A trustee of the University of California at Berkeley has given $1 million to the Haas School of Business to establish a new scholarship fund for international MBA students, primarily those from Asia, the school announced this week.
The gift, from Dato’ Sri Dr. Tahir, will establish the Tahir Fellowship Endowment Fund, which the school hopes will help attract even more international students to its fulltime MBA program. The new fund will help offset any difficulties international students may have encountered since lenders began requiring co-signers for international student loans in 2008. (Haas did work in response to secure partnerships that would provide loans without co-signers, but these programs do not provide full funding.)
“We are deeply grateful for Dr. Tahir’s generous contribution to our Haas School,” Dean Rich Lyons said in a statement. “Top business schools compete intensely to attract the very best students in the market, and diversity, including international student representation, is an important goal. Dr. Tahir’s gift will greatly improve our ability to achieve this goal.”
Tahir became Berkeley’s first trustee from Southeast Asia when he joined the board in 2007. He is chairman and CEO of Mayapada Group, an Indonesia-based conglomerate whose holdings include banks, hospitals, and real estate. Tahir’s three daughters and a son attended UC Berkeley, and his youngest daughter, Victoria, is an alumna of the Haas undergraduate program.
The Berkeley MBA Admissions Office will identify prospective scholarship recipients, and the amount of their awards will be flexible and dependent on available funds. Tahir’s gift will be matched by the UC Berkeley Graduate Fellowships Matching Program.
“UC Berkeley is viewed favorably by Indonesians as one of the top business school destinations. Many of our government officers and private businessmen have graduated from there,” Tahir said in a statement. “I hope that the fellowship fund will set an example of giving back, especially for students who benefit from the fellowship,” he added.
For more on the new Tahir Fellowship Endowment Fund at Haas, click here.
Read the full article: $1 Million Trustee Gift to Fund International Scholarships at UC Berkeley’s Haas School