University of Oxford graduate college to be renamed for Vietnam’s richest woman

A University of Oxford college is planning on changing its name to Thao College after receiving £155 million from a Vietnamese investment group.

Donation: Linacre College signed a memorandum of understanding on Oct. 31 with SOVICO group to receive a donation of £155 million (approximately $211 million).

The college announced the news on their website on Nov. 1 and cited plans to create a new graduate building and offer more graduate scholarships.
The donation will also aid the college’s day-to-day operations.
“We have long been one of the least well-endowed colleges at the University, so we are delighted that a significant part of the donation will be for our general endowment fund, to help support the daily running of College,” the announcement read.

SOVICO group: The Vietnamese investment group, established in the 1990s by a group of entrepreneurs, was represented by its chairwoman Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao in the memorandum of understanding.

The college will be renamed to Thao College after it receives the first donation of £50 million (approximately $68 million).
Nguyen, the founder of Vietjet Air, is one of Asia’s self-made female billionaires. She is considered to be the richest woman in Vietnam, according to the Bangkok Post.

History of the college: Linacre College is one of 36 constituent colleges at the University of Oxford.

Founded in 1962, the graduate college was named after Thomas Linacre, a 15th century humanist, medical scientist and classicist.
It is the UK’s first co-ed graduate college with interdisciplinary studies.
The college has more than 550 graduate students and more than 50 fellows.

Featured Image via Chubby Jayaram Singh (left), Graduate Study at Oxford (right)

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