Knowledge, Research & Innovation Higher Education

Innovative Places That Solve Real World Problems

Atlantic invested in capital projects for higher education because of founder Chuck Feeney’s belief that brilliant, capable people who think big can achieve great things with the right support. At the same time, Atlantic supplemented those investments with grants for scholarships that made it possible for deserving students to benefit from the educational opportunities these institutions offered. Atlantic support also enabled many universities to attract renowned academics that helped them become world-class centers of learning.

Atlantic has helped grow the University of Limerick’s campus from 11 buildings to more than 40. It was named University of the Year 2015 by The Sunday Times. Photo: Donovan Wylie

Unleashing Human Capital

Atlantic's investments in higher education helped create new learning opportunities for students around the world.

Achieving Top Tier Status

Atlantic investments in a state-of-the-art Life Sciences Building helped University of the Western Cape in South Africa earn the ranking as first in research impact in biology and biochemistry, molecular biology and genetics and physics from the South African National Research Foundation .

Healthy Injection

In 2009, Atlantic provided $61 million for three buildings in Queensland—the Translational Research Institute, Queensland University of Technology and Queensland Institute of Medical Research (now QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute)—representing the single largest philanthropic gift to higher education and medical research  in the history of Australia.

Seeding the Future

After making a grant to improve a Learning Resource Center at Da Nang University in Viet Nam, the foundation built four new ones. These centers, which are based on an open stack browsing model, also double as technology hubs with Internet and audiovisual capabilities, enabling students to seek information and become inquisitive learners.