University College Oxford to finish Univ North project with $40m donation

An Oxford University college will receive a total donation of $40m (£33.5m) from a former student to complete a major expansion project.

University College Oxford will finish its "transformational" Univ North project in north Oxford with the money.

David Frederick, an American lawyer, agreed with Univ that a proportion of the income made by the project will go to a US university he attended.

Univ North will be a second site for the college, which has 630 students.

Mr Frederick also studied at the University of Pittsburgh's Honors College, which will receive a proportion of the income from the campus development over 50 years, as part of a $35m (£29.4m) phased donation.

He has also gifted a further $5m (£4.2m) to the Univ North project.

It will include 150 en-suite bedrooms, a nursery for up to 54 children, a cafe, gym and study, meeting and lecture spaces.

The existing Fairfield Residential Home in Banbury Road will also be incorporated into the project.

Mr Frederick said he had spent "many happy years" at Univ and the cash would ensure "students can flourish and deepen their sense of community within the college and the city of Oxford".

He said the Honors College would "derive substantial and enduring benefits" from the arrangement.

"Our hope is that the project will enrich the educational experience in an inclusive way at both institutions for many decades to come," he said.

Baroness Valerie Amos, Univ's master, said: 'We are enormously grateful to David Frederick for his exceptional support and longstanding commitment to our college.

"Univ North will be transformational for Univ, enabling us to further realise our vision through our commitment to academic excellence, diversity and inclusion."

Pat Gallagher, the University of Pittsburgh's chancellor, said: "David has filled life, personally and professionally, with moments of impact.

"Now, his name is inextricably linked to a college at the University of Pittsburgh that is devoted to doing the same."

Follow BBC South on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. Send your story ideas to [email protected].