De Montfort University Leicester (DMU) has marked 10 years of successful association with the Sunwah Foundation with the announcement of a formal partnership agreement set to create opportunities for thousands of students around the world.
ENDOWMENT: Dr Choi (front centre) visiting Leicester Castle earlier this year
Two new centres, named after Sunwah chairman Dr Jonathan KS Choi, are now set to open on DMU’s campus in Leicester, in the UK, in 2016.
In addition, a DMU London base will be created.
Dr Choi, through his Sunwah Foundation, will contribute a sum of £9million to DMU over the course of the next five years to fund the Dr Jonathan KS Choi Business School – the single biggest endowment ever made to the university.
The school will be based at the 800-year-old Leicester Castle and be a leading European business school offering world-class courses.
A formal event to mark the announcement was held in Beijing on Saturday (30 May). Dr Choi, alongside the Vice-Chancellor of DMU, Professor Dominic Shellard, revealed details of the partnership which is set to create a lasting legacy for both the university and the Sunwah Foundation.
DMU has enjoyed a close relationship with Dr Choi for more than a decade. He is a renowned educational philanthropist and shares DMU’s ethos that a university should be a public good – using the skills of staff and students to benefit the community.
DMU is recognised for producing graduates with the expertise and strategic vision needed to succeed in today’s global marketplace, enhancing opportunity for international exchange and co-operation through its #DMUglobal programme. Alumni have already made their mark in a rich variety of high-profile roles across the globe.
The Dr Jonathan KS Choi Business School will be a leading institution, home to ambitious, talented students. It will nurture future business thinkers and will be a leader in international exchange between China and Europe.
A prominent European business school, with an emphasis on creative industries and entrepreneurship, it will combine DMU’s reputation for providing academically rigorous, challenging courses with opportunities for students and will be a catalyst for collaborations with other creative and cultural centres around the world.
Professor Shellard said: “Dr Jonathan KS Choi is a dynamic and visionary educational philanthropist whose generosity continues to create opportunities and change lives for the better. We are proud to share his vision of education as a public good. Universities have the power to make people’s lives better, and a duty to do so.
“Together with the Sunwah Foundation we will create a leading business school that will incorporate the latest research and management ideas from global business leaders and critical thinkers.
“We are a university with a proudly global outlook. Students from more than 130 countries are part of the DMU family. The opening of the Dr Jonathan KS Choi Business School will further expand the global reach of the university.”
Posted on Tuesday 2 June 2015