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Caption: Gonzalo Smith Morrondo and Loek Janssen compare plans for using their scholarships

In the mid-1990s, an Englishman called Gerald Frank Brown was a frequent visitor to Australia House in London.

WA's Agent General at the time, former Liberal MP Bill Hassell said the staff never knew what Mr Brown was researching. All they knew was that he was an investor in the mining industry in WA.

When the mysterious visitor died he left 80,000 pounds to the Government of Western Australia. "We still don't know any more about him or why he chose to leave his money to the State," said Mr Hassell at the presentation of scholarships in Mr Brown's name.

Mr Hassell recommended to the then Premier, Richard Court, that the money not be put into consolidated revenue but invested to fund scholarships for students from the European Economic Union to help them study in WA.

The Gerald Frank Brown Memorial Scholarship was established and the funds have grown so that, this year for the first time, four scholarships were presented, two of them going to UWA students.

Loek Janssen from Vrije University in the Netherlands and Gonzalo Smith Morrondo from Universidad Pontificia Comillas in Spain are both on student exchange. They were each awarded $2,000 which they can spend as they wish.

Gonzalo, who is studying finance, has already visited Shark Bay during his year here and hopes to see the south-west, but rather than spending it all on travel, said he would probably send some money to his mother in Spain who has been helping to support him at UWA.

Loek is studying computational engineering and has just been accepted to do his masters at Stanford.

The Gerald Frank Brown Memorial Scholarship is administered through the Department of Premier and Cabinet.

Welcoming Loek and Gonzalo and the two winners from Curtin and Murdoch universities, the Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Winthrop Professor Alec Cameron, said exchange students usually "take back some love" for Australia when they leave.

"This is called soft diplomacy. It's a great way for people to get a better understanding of Australia, its people and their aspirations," he said.