University secures landmark £5m donation from Garfield Weston Foundation for ‘New College’
A £5 million gift from Garfield Weston Foundation has marked the largest financial gift to the University of St Andrews’ ‘New College’ project, part of the Making Waves Campaign which aims to raise £300m for four key projects that will benefit students, staff and society on a global scale.
The donation brought the total pledged to the development of ‘New College’ to £41m.
The once-in-a-lifetime ‘New College’ project will create a home for the future scholars of geopolitics and global business at St Andrews, housing the University of St Andrews Business School and the UK’s leading School of International Relations.
The £140m redevelopment will form the first new college at the University of St Andrews in over three centuries and is set in the unique context of the University’s seven-century legacy of academic excellence, its tradition of social consciousness, global outlook, vibrant collegiate community and compact size.
Sophia Weston, Deputy Chair at Garfield Weston Foundation and a member of the Making Waves Campaign Committee, said: “The Garfield Weston Foundation has a reputation for supporting excellence across the charitable world. We are delighted to support this transformative project at one of our leading universities. ‘New College’ will benefit future generations of students and teachers at the University of St Andrews.”
Professor Sally Mapstone, Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of St Andrews, said: “The gift from the Garfield Weston Foundation has come at an exciting and critical time for the Making Waves Campaign, as we build with accelerating momentum toward our ambitious goals. The ‘New College’ project represents a tremendous investment in our University and local community and, at the same time, an initiative with far-reaching global impact.”
Together in ‘New College’, the University of St Andrews Business School and the School of International Relations will deliver a curriculum that will incorporate emerging trends in leadership and resilience and the use of artificial intelligence in strategy to equip today’s professionals with the skills required to respond to tomorrow’s global challenges.
‘New College’ is one of two capital projects within the Making Waves Campaign, alongside the Digital Nexus building. The Digital Nexus building will create a cutting-edge home for Scotland’s leading School of Computer Science and enable researchers at St Andrews to make waves of innovation as they work to solve some of society’s most pressing problems.
Through the Campaign, St Andrews is also supporting students through undergraduate and postgraduate scholarships and building the University’s endowment to provide long-term funding for Chairs and similar academic appointments.
For more information about Making Waves: The Campaign for St Andrews, visit: https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/development/making-waves/