Donation to Help Build Institute of Health and Wellbeing

A £5m donation to the University of Glasgow from the Pears Foundation will help in the construction of a new building to house its Institute of Health and Wellbeing. Expected to cost in excess of £40 million, the building will be named after Clarice Pears, who was born and raised in Glasgow.

Pears Foundation is a British family foundation that invests in excess of £20 million per annum across the UK and internationally. It was founded by and is run by Clarice’s three sons, Mark, Trevor and David. Sir Trevor Pears said: “It is a privilege to name this fantastic building after our mother, who was immensely proud of her Scottish roots.

“There is a lot of resonance between the work of the University of Glasgow’s Institute of Health and Wellbeing and our philanthropic goals; the research done there is very much applied and practical and we hope it goes from strength to strength.”

The new facility is part of the University £1 billion campus development programme and will be located on the site of the former Western Infirmary.

Professor Sir Anton Muscatelli, Principal and Vice Chancellor of the University of Glasgow, said: “We are extremely grateful for the generous donation from Pears Foundation which will revolutionise the study of health and wellbeing at the University of Glasgow, helping to build collaborations and inspire world changing research.

“The Institute’s work has already been having a major impact on public health policy in Glasgow, Scotland and internationally and this new facility will mean we can do more.”

Professor Jill Pell, Director of the Institute of Health and Wellbeing at the University of Glasgow, said: “The generous support of Pears Foundation will help us achieve our vision to improve health and reduce health inequalities on a local, national and global scale.

“The Clarice Pears Building will be transformative in how we support and promote collaboration both internally and with external partners. It will mean we can bring our staff together under one roof and make the University a more effective and attractive place to undertake world-leading research and teaching.”