A fund has been set up to help 200 foreigners per year complete a masters program at Tsinghua University.
Stephen Schwarzman, chairman of Blackstone Group LP, is donating $100m of his personal wealth to establish a scholarship program for foreign students to attend Tsinghua University. The billionaire hopes to raise a further $200m from other sponsors and already has commitments for half that amount from Bank of American Merril Lynch, Boeing Co, Caterpillar Inc and General Electric Co.
The program will be one of the largest education endowments in the world and is modelled on the Cecil J. Rhodes scholarship at the University of Oxford. Just as the Rhodes scholarship was established to facilitate greater understanding between the US and Europe, the new fund hopes to promote better comprehension of China by the West.
BP has also pledged $25m to the program, supporting 14 fellows a year at Tsinghua University, often dubbed the “China’s MIT”. Alumni of Tsinghua University include many of China’s top politicians, including President Xi Jinping, who has voiced his support for the generous program. “Human society needs to foster talents”, said Xi, “to understand and transform the world and create a better future for human beings.”
US President, Barack Obama, has also expressed his congratulations on the scholarship, as has former US Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, who hoped the program would “ensure mutual respect and understanding going forward.”