University’s ‘landmark’ donation to support 90 new Cambridge bursaries

20 December 2014

Cambridge News – Website

Cambridge University has received a landmark charitable donation, which it says will support at least 90 undergraduates from disadvantaged backgrounds.

The Reuben Foundation has pledged a total of £427,500 over the next five years, for the award of new Reuben Bursaries. The largest scholarship programme from the charitable trust to date, and with match funding from the Cambridge Bursary Scheme, it will help at least 90 students meet the costs of their studies.

Pofessor Sir Leszek Borysiewicz, Cambridge’s Vice-Chancellor, said: “I’m delighted the Reuben Foundation has enabled us to provide these bursaries, which will make a significant contribution towards the accommodation and subsistence costs of studying at Cambridge.
“A Cambridge education is a transformational experience, and their generosity will help ensure that basic living costs do not prevent talented students from benefiting from it.”

The Reuben Scholarship Programme was created in 2012 to oversee donations by the Reuben Foundation, which was founded by Indian-born businessmen David and Simon Reuben.

The Foundation is also principle funder of the BFI Reuben Library at BFI Southbank, which has become the leading centre for film knowledge in the UK, holding the world’s largest collection of written materials on film and television.

In a statement the brothers said: “We are delighted to see the continued expansion of the Reuben Scholarship Programme, and look forward to a long partnership with Cambridge which will benefit many bright students over the coming years”.

The donation will be administered for the University by the Isaac Newton Trust. The university has recently published details of over £1.5 million it has received in donations, including £500,000 from the Garton Weston Foundation, to support the construction of a new building for the Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology on the West Cambridge site.

Christ’s College graduate Yusuf Khwaja Hamied also gave £500,000 through his charitable foundation for refurbishment of the synthetic chemistry laboratory, which will be renamed the Hamied Laboratory –Synthetic Organic Chemistry.

Finally a benefaction of £100,000 from the British Land Company plc, payable over two years, will be made to support research at the Real Estate Research Centre in the Department of Land Economy.

A university spokesman said: “Philanthropy is playing a key role in sustaining Cambridge’s excellence for the long-term.

“Gifts are made by people and organisations who share Cambridge’s commitment to excellence through academic freedom and autonomy. Each one of these gifts represents an act of support that is deeply appreciated.”