New Hall formally launched a major fundraising campaign to mark its 50th anniversary at London’s Science Museum last night.

Dr Madeleine Albright, who graduated from Wellesley College in the USA and went on to be first female Secretary of State and US ambassador to the United Nations and who is a director of the Georgetown University Women in Foreign Service Program, was the keynote speaker at the event.

New Hall’s President, Mrs Anne Lonsdale CBE and Lord Browne of Madingley, CEO of BP, also addressed the audience comprising friends, Fellows, students and alumnae. The event, an evening drinks reception followed by dinner, was an opportunity for New Hall to celebrate its tremendous success to date and to look forward to the next 50 years.

Since New Hall was founded in 1954, the college has grown from 16 students to the 450 of today and now has over 4,000 alumnae who have distinguished themselves in Britain and around the world. New Hall students have gone on to success in the law and media, the Arts, government, academia, business and industry. Actress, Tilda Swinton; television presenter, Claudia Winkleman; Jocelyn Bell Burnell, the astronomer and astrophysicist who discovered pulsars; pianist, Joanna McGregor and Barbara Stocking, director of Oxfam, are just some of the well-known names from New Hall’s ranks of distinguished alumnae.

Mrs Anne Lonsdale, President of New Hall, said: “As a modern and international college in an ancient university, we have built up an enviable record of helping very able women achieve their full personal and intellectual potential and go on to play an important and valuable role in tomorrow’s world. We want to put this success on a firm footing for the next 50 years.”

“I am delighted to be able to support New Hall as it embarks on this new and exciting phase of its development; said Dr. Madeleine Albright. “I believe that to have economic stability and health and political development, women have to be fully employed and part of the system – politically and economically empowered. Education is the key to making that happen.”

Lord Browne of Madingley, CEO of BP said; “Genuine meritocracy depends on the development of opportunity for all, regardless of background or gender. New Hall is an example of how those opportunities can be created. The 50th anniversary of the college is a great occasion both to celebrate what has been achieved so far, and to lay the foundations for the next half-century. New Hall has achieved a great deal and I hope a successful appeal will enable it to do even more for women in Britain and internationally.”

New Hall will focus on raising funds over the next three years in order to:

  • Provide financial support for the undergraduate education of talented women regardless of geographical, ethnic, religious, social or educational background;
  • Become the centre for an international community of outstanding graduate students through the provision of scholarships, bursaries, high quality accommodation and facilities;
  • Recruit and retain talented Fellows and Research Fellows, men and women, who thrive in the stimulating academic environment of a multi-cultural, women’s college;
  • Provide a fitting home to the largest Collection of works by women artists in the world after the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington DC.

Financial support for this programme will be sought from alumnae and friends of New Hall, trusts, foundations and companies, both in the UK and abroad. The College aims to raise the target sum of £8 million by June 2007.

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