- Course
- Bacteriology and Biochemistry 1969
- Talking about
- Legacy: sponsoring students from disadvantaged backgrounds
For Peter Cheney, the four years he spent at Leeds set the foundation for the rest of his life.
“After I graduated, I worked in the pharmaceutical industry and Mars Inc. for 32 years. When I came back to visit Leeds in 2004, and after seeing what Leeds was doing, my wife, also a Leeds graduate, and I were encouraged to think a bit more about how fortunate we’d been in our lives. We decided we could give something back to the place that contributed so much to our success.”
After sponsoring students from disadvantaged backgrounds, encouraged by the positive impact being made, Peter set up the Cheney Fellowships, which brings visiting academics to Leeds to interact with faculties here. And following that, his focus turned towards the future.
“Given the importance of education in our success, we decided to leave a legacy to Leeds. We wanted our wealth to go to the place it could do the most good, and we wanted to leave something behind after we’re gone that we could feel proud of.”
“Who would we trust to do that? The answer was Leeds. We feel comfortable that Leeds will put the money to good use.”