Today, Professor Louise Richardson, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford, announced the successful conclusion of the £3 billion Oxford Thinking Campaign. Over 170,000 donors have given £3.3 billion to the University, the colleges and the Rhodes Trust since the campaign began in 2004.
Thanks to the generosity of our supporters, a vast array of projects has been enabled across a wide range of initiatives. Access and outreach programmes have been enhanced, the student experience has been boosted via bursary and scholarship schemes, research programmes that are tackling numerous global challenges are being facilitated, and new and improved buildings are benefitting our academic and student community, as well as the wider public.
Examples include: Over £722 million raised for research programmes and activities, including the Oxford Martin School and the Li Ka Shing Centre for Health Information and Discovery; greater support for students so that 1 in 4 UK undergraduates now receives a bursary; increased provision for graduate students – 750 graduate students have benefited through the Oxford Graduate Matched Funding Scheme; and £434 million was raised for buildings, infrastructure and equipment such as the Weston Library, the Mathematical Institute’s Andrew Wiles Building and the Stephen A Schwarzman Centre for the Humanities.
Professor Louise Richardson says: ‘We are deeply grateful to our many alumni and friends who have made this campaign possible. Thanks to their extraordinary generosity we have raised over £3 billion to invest in research, teaching, and improving the world around us while never compromising our commitment to academic excellence. It is thanks to their support that we have been able to maintain our position of global pre-eminence. As we chart our future we will continue to rely on private philanthropy to provide the margin of excellence in all we do.’