Thanks a 50million!
Covid test tycoon makes huge donation to his former university
IT was a scholarship to a Scots university that started Charles Huang on his journey to becoming one of the world’s most successful businessmen.
And now the former PhD student has shown his gratitude by giving £50million to the University of Strathclyde – the biggest donation it has ever received.
Mr Huang founded California-based Pasaca Capital Inc, a private equity firm which invests in innovative technologies, in 2016.
Among its recent ventures is Innova Medical Group, which developed the rapid lateral flow tests used in Covid-19 testing programmes worldwide, including in the UK.
Mr Huang, 57, gained his MBA from Strathclyde in 1989 and his PhD in marketing in 1994. He gave the donation, one of the most generous ever made to a UK university, through his philanthropic foundation in gratitude for the scholarship which enabled him to study at Strathclyde, in Glasgow.
The gift is also a tribute to the university’s former marketing department head Professor Stephen Young, his PhD supervisor and mentor. Mr Huang said: ‘I came to the University of Strathclyde for my MBA in August 1988 under a scholarship from the British Council for international students and I’m forever grateful of the UK for that life-changing opportunity. My education at Strathclyde played a critical role in the success of both my career and my businesses.
‘This gift is to show my gratitude to Strathclyde and to support those who have yet to embark on their studies.’ The gift was made at a ceremony yesterday.
More than half of the donation, £30million, will pay for a new building named after Mr Huang at the university’s technology and innovation zone.
The remainder will create the Stephen Young Institute for International Business, the Stephen Young Global Leaders Scholarship Programme and the Stephen Young Entrepreneurship Awards.
Professor Young, who died last month, helped to establish the university’s marketing department, one of the first in the UK, in 1971.
Professor Sir Jim McDonald, the university’s principal, said: ‘We are incredibly grateful to Dr Charles Huang for this exceptionally generous gift. A donation of this scale will make a huge difference to our students, our research and our innovation.’