Scientist, pharmaceutical entrepreneur and philanthropist Professor Raymond Schinazi has donated £2 ($2.5) million to establish the first Raymond Schinazi and Family Chair of Life Sciences at the University of Bath.
The endowment will go towards the establishment of the new Department of Life Sciences, with the Department’s Head, Professor Philip Ingham FRS, becoming the first holder of the Raymond Schinazi and Family Chair of Life Sciences.
He is also making a donation to establish a new Life Sciences Innovation Fund, ‘Synergy Awards’, available to Bath academics and students.
The Department of Life Sciences at the University of Bath was established in academic year 2022/23 by merging the departments of Biology & Biochemistry, and Pharmacy & Pharmacology. This created a cross-disciplinary, integrated and collaborative department, bringing together expertise and greater opportunities to build partnerships with the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industrial sectors, as well as the NHS.
Professor Schinazi said: “I came to the UK as an immigrant from Egypt to benefit from a British education, and I’m very grateful to Britain for providing me with an outstanding education. It’s so important to support underprivileged, bright students – especially those who are immigrants, and give them an opportunity to study at Bath. Now it is my turn to give back and to make this world a better place.”
