Pioneering thinking that inspired a worldwide campaign response

It is the most ambitious fundraising campaign ever mounted by a European university. Ambitious at any time, but especially so in an economic downturn. By the end of the 2009–10 academic year, Oxford Thinking: The Campaign for the University of Oxford had raised £1 billion, with £240.4 million raised in 2009–10 alone – a considerable achievement by any measure, but particularly during a time of such economic uncertainty.

For the collegiate University, the challenge to reach the minimum target of £1.25 billion continues, with the focus on the three campaign themes: support for tutors and research to help attract and retain the world’s finest academics; support for students so that the brightest and most gifted students can flourish at Oxford regardless of their financial circumstances; and support for the University environment, restoring, refurbishing, renovating and upgrading existing buildings and developing new ones.

In each area there have been significant benefactions across a wide variety of disciplines. Examples in the latter part of the academic year included:

• a gift of £350,000 from the Simons Foundation to fund two postdoctoral fellowships at the Mathematical Institute
• a pledge of £3 million to fund the Stanley Lewis Chair in Israel Studies
• a pledge of £5 million over five years from the Li Ka Shing Foundation to battle infectious diseases in Asia
• a £2.3 million gift from the Tasso Leventis Conservation Foundation to establish a chair in biodiversity
• a pledge of £1.5 million from Dr Leonard Polonsky to support library digitisation initiatives as well as the digital imaging facilities in the redeveloped New Bodleian Library – to be known as the Weston Library when it reopens
• a gift of £1 million from Sir Ronald Cohen for the purchase and refurbishment of Exeter College’s ‘Third Quadrangle’ on Walton Street

The success of Oxford Thinking has been built on a huge amount of hard work and activity both in the UK and around the world: everything from students playing an enthusiastic part in telethon programmes to the Vice-Chancellor hosting major campaign events in international cities. There have also been continuing milestones in terms of the impact on the University’s buildings and facilities, including completion of the new Earth Sciences building supported by campaign pledges exceeding £6 million.

In the period covered by this review, nearly £60 million ($100 million) has been raised by a pioneering matched funding challenge set by Dr James Martin. Already a hugely significant supporter of the University, Dr Martin offered to match donations of at least $1 million up to a total of $50 million for Oxford research projects aimed at solving some of the toughest challenges facing humanity in the twenty-first century. Dr Martin, one of the world’s most influential computer scientists, says: ‘When the matched funding scheme was announced, many people said this is crazy timing as this is the worst economic crash in recent history. The Oxford Vice-Chancellor and I disagreed with them. Foundations and wealthy individuals do give money in bad times, if the cause is exceptionally important.’

Dr Martin’s campaign pledge came in addition to an original donation made in 2005 to set up the James Martin 21st Century School (now renamed the Oxford Martin School) with an endowment of $100 million. The school supports work on subjects as diverse as the future of cities, brain manipulation and vaccine design. Interdisciplinary teams of researchers in the school are exploring issues such as global poverty and the impact of climate change; they will push forward the frontiers in innovative health and computer technologies, and examine ways to prevent future economic crashes.

In July 2010 Mr Leonard Blavatnik gave £75 million to establish the Blavatnik School of Government; a historic gift to create Europe’s first school of government.  The School will train outstanding graduates from across the world in the skills and responsibilities of government. This global outlook will reflect the strongly international character of Oxford’s graduate community, two-thirds of whom are from overseas. ‘The School represents a huge milestone in Oxford’s history’, said the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Andrew Hamilton. ‘It will give tomorrow’s leaders the best of Oxford’s traditional strengths alongside new and practical ways of understanding and addressing the challenges of good governance.’

The campaign has been notable for the variety of donors it has attracted and for the range of gifts both in terms of size and where they have come from. ‘The Oxford Thinking Campaign has demonstrated the worldwide support for the University of Oxford’, says Sue Cunningham, Director of Development, ‘Alumni and friends have provided the much needed support for the advancement of the University because of an unprecedented commitment to excellence in teaching and research. This level of engagement will be critical for the future of Oxford colleges, departments, museums and libraries.’ In campaign newsletters and updates the University has thanked all those who have made a contribution to Oxford Thinking. There have been a variety of events and dinners, including the North American Reunion in New York, where Michael Moritz and Harriet Heyman were awarded the prestigious Sheldon Medal – the University’s highest level of recognition for philanthropy – for their £25 million gift to Christ Church.

The Vice-Chancellor says: ‘Each gift adds to the pool of resources from which the University seeks to secure the present and build the future. Each gift also represents a tangible vote of confidence in what Oxford has been and what it aspires to be.’