SINGAPORE – September 25, 2013 – The University of Melbourne has launched its philanthropic campaign in Singapore, which is home to more than 4200 alumni.
With an aim to raise $500 million (AUD) by 2017, Believe: The Campaign for the University of Melbourne was unveiled to local alumni and friends at the National Museum of Singapore on September 24.
“The University has an active alumni community in Singapore and so this trip will provide a great opportunity for us as a university to find out the issues they see as important, and how in partnership with them and others, we can seek solutions," Professor Glyn Davis AC, Vice Chancellor said ahead of the launch.
Meanwhile, there are more than 1200 Singaporean students enrolled at Melbourne.
“We strongly believe that Australia and the region deserves to have access to truly great universities – universities that can develop human capital and produce research on shared problems – and we think the University of Melbourne has a big role to play on this front.”
Research projects include water and river basin management, soil chemistry, crop production, and rotavirus vaccine development.
“The Campaign for the University of Melbourne will enable us to continue educating tomorrow’s leaders, break new ground in solving some of the world’s grand challenges through research, and strengthen communities near and afar," Davis said.
The campaign, the University’s first in 60 years, is set to be the largest in Melbourne’s history, Davis said.
“Like many universities around the world, we are building an endowment that allows us to fund research and scholarships to enable talented students from around the world to join and benefit from our diverse community. I am looking forward to thanking our donors in Singapore.”
The University has already raised more than $266 million from more than 12,000 donors. Notable Singaporean alumni include Dr Lee Kuan Yew, Mr Peter Chai (3Com Asia-Pacific Vice President) and Prof Simon Chesterman (Dean, Faculty of Law, NUS).
