Worcester College at Oxford University has received its largest-ever donation of £30 million from alumnus Sir Lindsay Owen-Jones KBE. Sir Owen-Jones, who matriculated at the college in 1965
to study Modern Languages, has a long-standing association with Worcester College, serving as an Honorary Fellow and trustee of the Worcester College Oxford Endowment Trust. He has also had a distinguished career as Chairman and CEO of L'Oréal and holds various prestigious honors. This significant gift will be utilized for the construction of two new buildings: The Sir Lindsay Owen-Jones Library and a graduate accommodation building.
The Sir Lindsay Owen-Jones Library will provide modern and accessible workspaces and facilities, serving as a landmark building at the heart of the college campus constructed to the highest environmental standards. The graduate accommodation building aims to generate additional income to support the college's educational activities while offering housing to students pursuing taught and research-based further study.
Worcester College Provost, David Isaac CBE, expressed deep gratitude to Sir Lindsay for his remarkable commitment to the college. He emphasized how the new library and workspace will enhance the student experience, offering state-of-the-art facilities for both individual and collaborative work. Additionally, the Owen-Jones graduate building will expand the graduate community and improve their experience at the college.
Sir Lindsay Owen-Jones KBE shared his heartfelt connection to Worcester College, describing how it transformed his life and broadened his horizons as a teenager from Merseyside. He expressed his delight in being able to give back to the college and hoped that the new buildings would support and inspire future generations of students in the same way Worcester College had inspired him.
This substantial donation joins a list of major gifts to Oxford University, including £100 million for an antimicrobial research institute in 2021 and £150 million for the humanities in 2019. Photo by Andrew Shiva / Wikipedia / CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia commons.