New Shuaib Chaudhary Scholarship created at St Edmund Hall

A recent generous donation from Mr Shuaib Chaudhary has enabled the creation of a new endowed scholarship in perpetuity at St Edmund Hall, University of Oxford.

The scholarship is available to graduate masters’ students from one of the Islamic Development Bank countries demonstrating exceptional academic merit; eligible courses for the scholarship are Islamic Studies or courses in the subjects of Business, Economics, Finance, Law and Politics, with applicants having received an offer to study at the University.

The College is incredibly grateful to Shuaib Chaudhary for his support for the scholarship. Shuaib is a member of the Vice-Chancellor’s Circle, a fund manager and non-practising lawyer, and although not an alumnus of the University of Oxford he was motivated to establish the scholarship to support students from the Islamic world to study at Oxford and make a positive social impact in their communities. He said:

I am delighted to be announcing this partnership with St Edmund Hall at the University of Oxford in order to provide students from Islamic countries based internationally an opportunity to study at arguably the world’s best university. I sincerely hope this leads to a positive societal and economic contribution to candidates’ respective home countries but also to the UK should they wish to remain.

It is one of my goals that there is greater ethnic minority representation across all institutions in the UK. I would like to dedicate this scholarship to my late grandfather, Mr Adalat Chaudhary, co-founder of the Bestway Group, who always impressed upon me the importance of education and giving back to society. He believed in me when no one else did and was instrumental in my success. Without him I would simply not be where I am today and it was a privilege and honour to have been his grandson.

The inaugural scholarship was awarded in the year 2023–2024 and supported Khalid Abdelgadir, studying for an MBA at the Saïd Business School. Khalid is a Sudanese entrepreneur working in agribusiness. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Khartoum. Khalid is very keen on tackling the food-loss problem by making solutions that bridge the gaps within the food value chain. In 2020, he co-founded a start-up that gives farmers access to cold storage services using solar energy. After finishing his studies, Khalid aspires to continue building innovative solutions that enhance food security and achieve social stability for African smallholder farmers. Khalid comments:

I’d like to thank Shuaib for supporting my studies. The scholarship provided me with the opportunity to enjoy a life-changing experience while in Oxford, giving me the chance to realise substantial personal growth. The community at St Edmund Hall is family-like with a diverse student body and plenty of events.

In the future, I aspire to become an impact investor, reframing the entrepreneurship landscape and working to develop and implement innovative frameworks that support the underserved communities in emerging economies. After graduation, I would like to focus on unlocking the underlying potential of the youth in Africa. Studying an MBA would be the first step I take towards making that dream a reality.