Oxford University has been given £150million – its largest donation in at least 500 years.
The gift from US businessman Stephen Schwarzman exceeds any other sum recorded in archives that go back to the 15th century.
Explaining his decision, the 72-year-old billionaire said he had fallen in love with the ‘dreaming spires’ of Oxford as a teenager. His cash will fund a new humanities hub, including a centre for the study of the ethics of artificial intelligence (AI).
‘When I was 15 years old I visited Oxford and I was really impressed,’ Mr Schwarzman told the Daily Mail.
Explaining his decision, US businessman Stephen Schwarzman said he had fallen in love with the ‘dreaming spires’ of Oxford as a teenager
‘I never imagined anything in the world could exist with such extraordinary buildings. It was so different to where I grew up.’
The Philadelphia-born chief of the Blackstone investment firm said he was especially worried about the future of AI. ‘We’re going to have to make choices about what we are going to allow AI to do and what we don’t.
‘If it’s just left unchecked, there is the chance for amazing outcomes on the one hand, but difficult issues including higher levels of unemployment and other things that can damage the fabric of democracy.’
His donation followed a direct approach by Oxford vice chancellor Louise Richardson. ‘I had seen that he had made a major gift to the New York public library and to Yale, so I went to see him,’ she told the Mail.
‘I pitched to him the idea of funding a humanities building in Oxford. I said that we did have much more ambitious plans, but we’ve had to constrain them due to financial circumstances.
The gift from the 72-year-old billionaire exceeds any other sum recorded in archives that go back to the 15th century
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