Vincent Cheng with the Chair of Council, members of the SMC and Campaign Ambassadors
LSE alumnus Mr Vincent Cheng (BSc Economics 1993) has made an unrestricted eight-figure commitment to LSE’s permanent endowment through the Verdant Foundation. The funding will make a significant contribution towards securing the financial future of the School, supporting LSE’s capacity to meet increasing demands on resources in a challenging global financial climate.
In recognition of this extraordinary generosity and foresight, LSE will rename the New Academic Building in Lincoln’s Inn Fields the Cheng Kin Ku Building, in honour of Mr Cheng’s late father. The building, which was purchased by LSE for redevelopment in 2003, and re-opened in 2008 by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, currently houses the LSE Law School and the Department of Geography and Environment. In addition, the building has played host to public lectures by many world leaders and significant public figures including Amartya Sen, Christine Lagarde and Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.
Mr Cheng is a long-standing benefactor and advocate of the School and has provided generous philanthropic support over many years, including towards the redevelopment of the New Academic Building in 2006, and to establish a programme of PhD scholarships for students from Hong Kong and mainland China. His deep connection with LSE was honoured in 2015, when he was awarded an honorary fellowship. Alongside his new commitment, we are delighted that Mr Cheng will take on a senior volunteer and advocacy role for LSE’s £350 million Shaping the World Campaign, in the role of Campaign Co-Chair.
LSE President and Vice Chancellor Baroness Minouche Shafik commented: “Endowment support is the only form of philanthropy that can put us in control of our long-term financial destiny. We are truly grateful to Mr Cheng and the Verdant Foundation for this transformational gift that will strengthen LSE’s future, ensure that we remain at the forefront of the social sciences, and provide essential support to our student community. We are delighted to recognise this generosity and stewardship of LSE’s future through the naming of the Cheng Kin Ku Building, which will celebrate LSE’s proud and enduring connection with the Cheng family for generations to come.”
Mr Vincent Cheng commented: “I have been inspired by Baroness Shafik’s vision of tackling the greatest global challenges of our time through the Shaping the World Campaign, and I hope this gift will help to create a sustainable future for LSE in the same way that LSE made an enormous contribution to my future.”