The University of Oxford has announced a £25 million ($32.64 million) gift from Stephen A. Schwarzman in support of the humanities center that he helped establish in 2019.

The latest gift will support efforts to build a state-of-the-art and environmentally sustainable building. When complete, the center will bring together seven faculties, the Institute for Ethics in AI, the Oxford Internet Institute, a new library, and new performance venues, including a 500-seat concert hall, a 250-seat theater, and a 100-seat black box space. Through the new Humanities Cultural Programme, the center will provide exhibitions, lectures, and performances to wide audiences; engage with schools and the general public to bolster humanities education for schoolchildren in Oxfordshire; address access routes and landscaping that will connect the Radcliffe Observatory Quarter and the surrounding area; and create meeting spaces open to the public and accessible without having to pass through a security barrier. 

In 2019, Schwarzman, chairman, CEO, and co-founder of Blackstone, awarded £150 million (currently valued at $195.86 million) to establish the center. Schwarzman joined the Giving Pledge in 2020.

“I am pleased to support the university with this additional gift and look forward to seeing the impact the centre will have on Oxford students, faculty, community members, and the world for years to come,” said Schwarzman. “Oxford has a unique opportunity to share and apply its leadership in the humanities to the most fundamental questions of the 21st century and I’m proud of the role the centre will play in this mission.” 

(Photo credit: Getty Images/zodebala)