from his knee injury in Taunton and Bournemouth in England, Sherman became familiar with the United Kingdom and its culture. Awards and decorations During World War II Robert B. Sherman received these awards: Education Upon his return to the United States, Sherman attended Bard College in upstate New York where he majored in English literature and painting. Sherman served as editor-in-chief of Bard College's campus newspaper, The Bardian. At Bard, Sherman completed his first two novels, The Best Estate and Music, Candy and Painted Eggs. He graduated in 1949. On May 12, 1990, Sherman received an honorary doctorate from Lincoln College. Songwriting career Sherman and his brother, Richard, began writing songs together on a challenge from their father, Al Sherman, who was a Tin Pan Alley songwriter ("No! No! A Thousand Times No!!", "You Gotta Be a Football Hero"). In 1958, Sherman founded the music publishing company, Music World Corporation, which later worked with Disney's BMI publishing arm, Wonderland Music Company. That same year, the Sherman brothers had their first Top 10 hit with "Tall Paul", sung by Annette Funicello. The success of this song attracted the attention of Walt Disney, who hired the Sherman Brothers as staff songwriters for Walt Disney Studios. While at Disney, the Sherman Brothers wrote their most-recognized song, "It's a Small World (After All)" for the 1964 New York World's Fair. In 1965, the Sherman brothers won two Academy Awards for Mary Poppins, Best Original Score and Best Original Song, "Chim Chim Cher-ee". Since Mary Poppins premiere, Sherman earned nine Academy Award nominations, two Grammy Awards, four Grammy Award nominations and 23 gold and platinum albums. Robert and Richard Sherman worked for Walt Disney until Disney's death in 1966. After leaving the company, the brothers worked freelance as songwriters on scores of motion pictures, television shows, theme park exhibits and stage musicals. Their first non-Disney assignment was in 1968 in Albert R. Broccoli's motion picture Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, which garnered the brothers their third Academy Award nomination. In 1973, the Sherman brothers made history by becoming the only Americans ever to win first prize at the Moscow Film Festival for Tom Sawyer, for which they authored the screenplay. In 1976, The Slipper and the Rose was picked to be the Royal Command Performance of the year, attended by Queen Elizabeth. A musical adaptation of Cinderella, The Slipper and the Rose features both song, score