£1.33m donation for poverty research at the University of Manchester

Dr Rory Brooks and his wife Elizabeth have made a £1.33m gift to The University of Manchester, taking their total donations to £4m since 2004.

The money will go to the Brooks World Poverty Institute (BWPI), an international centre of excellence established to create and share knowledge to end poverty throughout the world. The University of Manchester is an international research leader in poverty and poverty eradication.

This significant donation means that the University has now attracted £100 million in private philanthropic donations since its foundation less than a decade ago.

The President and Vice-Chancellor of The University of Manchester, Professor Dame Nancy Rothwell, said: “This is far-sighted, generous and sustained philanthropy of the highest order. This milestone is to be celebrated with warm thanks to all of our donors, at all levels, and from all parts of the world. We can do a lot alone, but a great deal more together.”

Manchester alumnus Rory Brooks said:  “The Rory and Elizabeth Brooks Foundation is delighted to commit to further support for the University to enable the BWPI to continue its important work as part of a wider commitment to support the bold aspirations of the University of Manchester’s 2020 vision.”

The University uses donations in a variety of ways, from funding scholarships for disadvantaged students, to supporting research into a range of issues including poverty and cancer.

Chris Cox, the University’s Director of Development and Alumni Relations, said: “This kind of visionary support is both humbling and energising for all of us tasked with ensuring that our programmes reach their full potential for the benefit of others.

“For many, that support is wide-ranging and deep; our alumni in particular provide vital contributions to our University in a variety of ways, alongside financial donations. As a registered charitable institution it is our responsibility to confidently seek and receive support for our strategic priorities.” 

Looking to the future, the Pearce Report on Giving to Higher Education, which was published last summer, with Rory Brooks serving as a key panel member, reminds all UK universities that, while tremendous progress has been made over the last decade or so, there is a great deal more to do. 

Rory Brooks is co-founder of the international private equity group MML Capital Partners. He graduated from UMIST in 1975, and funded the UK’s first chair in Enterprise at the University of Manchester in 2001.

In 2005 the Rory & Elizabeth Brooks Foundation became the principal benefactor of the University’s Brooks World Poverty Institute. The Foundation has now donated more than £4 million.

Rory is Chairman of the University’s Global Leadership Board and was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University in October 2010.

Rory is a member of the Clinton Global Initiative, an adviser to the Quintessentially Foundation, a member of the 2012 Government Task Force on Philanthropy in Higher Education and is on the Development Committee of the Centre for Social Justice
Elizabeth Brooks’ has a keen interest in modern and contemporary art and is Chairman of the Patrons’ Committee of the Tate, and sits on the Tate Patrons Executive Committee.

Elizabeth is a trustee of P3, People, Potential and Possibilities, the social exclusion charity and is the Chair of the Fundraising Steering Group of The Rugby Portobello Trust, a charity which supports disadvantaged young people in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.
 

Notes for editors

Jon Keighren, Media Relations Manager, The University of Manchester 0161 275 8384

(Image shows Rory Brooks on a visit to Bangladesh)