Vice-Chancellor backs Leicester’s £100m philanthropic campaign with personal six-figure donation

The University of Leicester’s Vice-Chancellor hopes others will follow his lead after he donated a six-figure sum to the institution’s philanthropic campaign.

Professor Sir Nishan Canagarajah is gifting £100,000 from his own pocket to the 2121: Founders of the Future campaign, which aims to raise £100m to fund life-changing research and education.

Sir Nishan’s donation, which he has been paying in monthly salary sacrifice donations, will go directly to the University’s Student Success Fund which provides financial support for Leicester students facing financial difficulty.

He was keen to support students in need, because his future was transformed by an act of philanthropy when he was living in war-torn Sri Lanka, as a teenager.

“I was able to go to the UK after I received a scholarship to study engineering as an undergraduate at Cambridge,” he said.

“This was followed by another scholarship to do my PhD there, so I can firmly say I am where I am today because of philanthropy. I always felt that I have a duty to do something in return, and supporting the 2121 campaign is the perfect way to do so.”

He added: “One of the most deserving causes right now is student hardship. I’m really hoping that through this funding that students who are in real financial difficulty will be given an opportunity to succeed in their education and go on to do great things, just like I’ve been able to do in my life.”

The 2121: Founders of the Future is the University’s most ambitious philanthropic endeavour to date, which looks to secure funding to allow the institution to tackle some of the world’s important issues head on. Funding is sought for research across four themes: People, Planet, Health, and Culture.

The campaign chimes with the origin story of the University of Leicester, which was gifted the land on which it sits today by businessman, Thomas Fielding Johnson, in order to create a living memorial for all local people who made sacrifices during the First World War.

Sir Nishan said: “As Vice-Chancellor, I was delighted to create this fundraising campaign, because It sees the University coming full circle. It has an amazing founding story – it was founded on philanthropy.”

He added: “It is important, that if I am asking others to contribute financially, I should do so myself, and I really hope that inspires others to think maybe they can contribute in whatever way they can to support the 2121 campaign.”

Donors to the fund will be helping Leicester fulfil its role as a leading research-intensive university, while it contends with challenging financial conditions.

Sir Nishan explained: “Government and research funding will always remain important, but philanthropy gives us something different: the freedom to think beyond immediate priorities and invest in ideas that could change lives decades from now.

“The universities that shape the future are often those with the confidence and resources to take a long-term view. Philanthropy helps make that possible. It empowers us to support brilliant people, back ambitious ideas and invest in opportunities that might otherwise never happen.

“Our 2121 campaign is about the next hundred years of Leicester. It is about ensuring that future generations inherit a university that is even stronger, more innovative and more impactful than the one we know today. Philanthropy will play a crucial role in making that vision a reality. I sincerely hope many will be inspired to become founders of our second century.”

Find out how to support the 2121: Founders of the Future campaign.