Oxford Saïd alumnus creates six new MBA scholarships

The ‘Oxford Leo Tong Chen Scholarships’ will support three students per year from China, and three who are ordinarily resident in the UK, US, Australia or New Zealand, for the next 5 years.

‘As an alumnus of a young school I have not only benefitted from, but also have the opportunity to build, its character and legacy,’ said Tong Chen. ‘I hope the Oxford Leo Tong Chen Scholarships can be a catalyst to more alumni supporting our school's efforts to recruit the best entrepreneurial and visionary students to its programme.'

Tong Chen was a young entrepreneur with his own telecom start up before he joined the Oxford MBA in 2001 with a view to making a career transition, and looking for more global exposure. He was able to fulfil his ambition to change career after the programme but after a short spell in the corporate world Tong Chen returned to entrepreneurship by founding dGav Capital, a venture capital investment management firm focusing on the new material, new energy, electronic vehicles, environment protection, healthcare, biotechnology and artificial intelligence sectors.  ‘Although it’s been many years since I was at Oxford I can look back and appreciate the experience, exposure and ideas,  and am now at the point in my career that I am able to give something back,’ he said.

Peter Tufano, Dean at Oxford Saïd commented: ‘Leo’s generous gift will give some of the most talented young professionals an opportunity to study at Oxford Saïd and go on to enrich the communities in which they will ultimately work and live. I hope that Leo’s vision to support future generations of business leaders will inspire generosity among our graduates, particularly as we have just announced the launch of our Annual Alumni Fund.’

The scholarships will be available for the 2018-19 academic year and no separate application will be needed as all students meeting the criteria will automatically be considered.