Touted as one of the richest men in Britain, India-born Reuben brothers are among the richest businessmen. Reports suggest that they have donated 80-million pounds to the Oxford University for developing a major graduate and undergraduate program.
David and Simon Reuben were recently ranked as the second richest businessmen in Britain with a net worth of over 16 billion pounds.
Even the college reported that following the historic gift from the Reuben Foundation, the college is likely going to become the Reuben College.
“The current pandemic has shown us just how vital it is to have access to the very best medical research and academic thinking,” the Reuben family reported in a statement.
The University further emphasised on some of the finest minds in the UK and they hope that this endowment from the Reuben College will keep the Oxford University in the forefront of research in several of the vital areas of Environmental Change, AI and even Machine Learning.
For the first students of the autumn of 2021, Reuben College has already attracted an outstanding lineup of academic fellows. The college was created as a new base for the graduate students who are looking for opportunities in “interdisciplinary exchange and apply their research to address key future challenges.”
The college further reported that they are going to generate new insights into some of the biggest opportunities by bringing in academics from some of the traditionally different disciplines in working together on challenging some of the themes and even share some of their knowledge with the college students.
Some of the research themes include “Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning; Environmental Change; and Cellular Life.”
The Vice Chancellor of Oxford University, Professor Louise Richardson reported that the generous donation from the Reuben family for Reuben College will further join the storied ranks of the Oxford Colleges.
“Now, more than ever, our society needs a new generation of highly educated researchers to address the global challenges that transcend national borders. This gift represents a vote of confidence in Oxford, a vote of confidence in the power of research to solve societal problems, and above all, a vote of confidence in the future,” said Louise.
With the Reuben Foundation donation, it is likely going to help expand the existing Reuben Scholarship Programme that was established back in 2012 for the undergrad students on scholarships. The similar programme will now include the Oxford-Reuben graduate scholarships for the students.
“The Reuben Foundation has been supporting Oxford University for many years with its scholarship programme to support those from disadvantaged backgrounds,” said Lisa Reuben, Trustee of the Reuben Foundation.
They further expressed their delight in collaborating with the University through this endowment, creating the new Reuben College that will come equipped with further scholarship programmes.
Additionally, the Reuben College will be in the heart of the Science Area of the University. The buildings for this are currently being worked in and refurbished to provide with central access site to the students.
Upon completion of the same in 2021, the college hopes to further offer accessible and modern facilities to the students with flexible spaces for all their study needs.
“This gift is a massive endorsement of our mission to provide a genuinely collaborative home for academics and foster new, interdisciplinary approaches to problems of global significance which will inspire our graduate students,” said Professor Lionel Tarassenko.
The college is currently gearing up to start recruiting students for the first cohort by this September for the class of 2021.
