Banco Santander establishes scholarships at Yale-NUS College with US$800,000 gift
Yale-NUS College President Pericles Lewis and Banco Santander (Santander) Executive Chairman Emilio Botin signed a Memorandum of Understanding to establish two scholarship programmes at Yale-NUS College today. Santander’s gift of US$800,000 will support the Santander Scholarship and the Santander International Experience Scholarship at the College.
The Santander Scholarship is awarded based on merit and enables the College to continue to attract top students from Singapore and around the world. Up to five full scholarships will be supported by this gift. The Santander International Experience Scholarship will support exchanges, overseas internship and professional experiences for up to 100 students over the next five years. Preference will be given to students going to Spain and Latin American countries. Yale-NUS students will also have the opportunity to intern at Santander offices in Europe and Latin America.
In signing the memorandum, President Pericles Lewis said, “Banco Santander’s gift is a boost to our mission to reinvent existing models of liberal arts and science education. We are deeply grateful for this gift, and look forward to our continued partnership in educating leaders of tomorrow for the world.”
Santander is the first international bank to be recognised as a founding benefactor of Yale-NUS College, joining other individuals, corporations and foundations that have made gifts of S$1 million (US$800,000) and more to the College during its founding years. The bank’s gift to Yale-NUS is made through the Santander Universities Global Division, which has an alliance with 1,020 academic institutions in America, Asia and Europe.
“Yale-NUS College is one of the 21st century pioneers in liberal arts education in Asia. For Santander it is an honour to be one of the founding benefactors of this renowned institution, which will be represented by the top talented students and faculty members from Singapore and around the world. Higher education plays a vital role in the economic and social development of a country. Santander’s institutional commitment to universities is one of the hallmarks of our bank’s identity”, said Executive Chairman Mr Emilio Botin.
The event was graced by Professor Tan Chorh Chuan, President of the National University of Singapore; Juan Rodriguez Inciarte, Board Director, GM Strategy and Asia Pacific Division; and Juan M San Roman, CEO Asia Pacific Division; and Yale-NUS faculty and students.
Santander has established a variety of programmes at NUS including the Santander Students Mobility Program, Santander Undergraduate Research Exchange (SURE), Santander-NUS Doctorate in Advanced Risk Management Program and the Santander Chair for Mobility of Young Faculty & Researchers Programs. The bank is also a supporter of Yale University.
