Meet Chris Foster: Mansfield’s lead benefactor

Nearly 24 years after graduating from Mansfield with a first, Chris Foster (Maths, 1997) has become the lead benefactor of the College’s most ambitious fundraising campaign to date. We asked Chris why he decided to make a gift of £25m to Mansfield in support of all three pillars of the For Mansfield. Forever. Campaign – People, Place, and Culture – and what he hopes this remarkable benefaction will achieve.

Jane Waghorn Head of Communications & Tess McCormick Development Director

‘I’d guess for most people, going to Oxford changes your life’, muses Chris. ‘But looking back later in life, you realise that somebody had to make the decision to give you that opportunity. You ask yourself why they did that. How did it come about? And how are you using that opportunity?’

Since Mansfield, Chris has used his talents to build a stellar career in trading and investment. Today he is a Senior Portfolio Manager at Citadel, one of the most successful investment firms globally. Prior to university, in the mid1990s, Chris was a bright state school teenager with a particular aptitude for maths, living in a small town in the northwest of England on the outskirts of Wigan. It was his economics teacher who encouraged him to apply to Oxford.

After passing the entrance exam, Chris secured an interview at his first-choice college, St John’s, and while in Oxford, was invited to interview at Mansfield.

‘That’s where I met Janet [Dyson]’, he remembers. ‘The interview went really well. I definitely wasn’t a polished candidate, but I think Janet saw my potential.’ Chris did not receive an offer from St John’s but gained a place at Mansfield.

‘When I arrived at Mansfield, I had this benefit of being around a completely different circle of people than those I grew up with, people from completely different backgrounds to me. The power of being surrounded by people who are different and think differently, inspires you to think differently.’

Dr Janet Dyson, College Lecturer in Maths, 1977-87, Maths Fellow, 1987-2013 (and now Emeritus Fellow), had a major impact on Chris.

‘Janet used to say that many who come to study Maths at Mansfield from state schools feel behind at the start. And it was true. It’s like you’re trying to learn a new language. But Janet reassured me, and others, that if I put in the work, I would catch up. Throughout my first year, I had to work very hard. I got a high IIi in mods, but Janet said to me - in that quiet, gentle Janet fashion: “Chris, if you were more confident you would have got a first.” And I think it was at that point I started to believe it.

‘Would I have got to where I am today if it hadn’t been for the teaching, the encouragement, the people I met, and the experiences I had at Mansfield? Absolutely not. True, having a first-class Maths degree from Oxford on your CV does help. But ultimately, what influenced my career was the confidence that Mansfield, and especially Janet, instilled in me.

‘If I could get a first-class Maths degree from Oxford, I could do anything.’

Chris talks about how, aged 18, he didn’t fully comprehend the context around the opportunity Mansfield had given him.

‘When you’re young you just accept the world as it is. You don’t quite have an understanding of what goes on in the background. I assumed that if I was good enough to go to Oxford, I would get in, and if I wasn’t, I wouldn’t.’

In the late 1990s, 50% of Oxbridge’s intake came from private schools, but only 7% of students were educated at a private school in the UK.

‘As a mathematician, that percentage was mind-blowing’, reflects Chris. ‘Looking back, I realised that somebody had to make the decision to diversify the intake across different socio-economic backgrounds, and then to act on it. This is difficult when looking for potential in a competitive field, when many candidates will have had greater advantages and appear more polished. Even then, Mansfield had a state-school intake of around 60%, so I could see they weren’t taking the easy option, they were taking an active position to bring about change.’

But widening access to elite education does not only have an impact at an individual level. Chris remembers how a friend of his father’s, Alan Hurst, a woodwork teacher in a state school near Wigan, would ask after Chris throughout his time at university.

‘To Alan, the fact that the son of one of his friends was at Oxford, was staggering. Napoleon said: ”To understand the man, you have to understand what was happening in the world when he was 20.” Alan had a similar upbringing to my father: the norm for them was to leave school at 15. University was for rich people. That was Alan’s world when he was 20. He couldn’t believe that his friend’s son was not only going to university, but to Oxford. I think that “network effect” – the impact of seeing social mobility happening – evidences a sense of progress, and a sense of hope. Everything’s not completely stacked against you, there is access to opportunity, it can happen.’

What made Chris decide that now was the moment to support Mansfield so generously?

‘I’m a believer in Oxford as a world class institution. It’s highly likely it will continue to educate our future leaders of and in society. Who wouldn’t want the best educated in positions that make a difference? It seems obvious to me that such people need to come from backgrounds that represent the broad makeup of society – a form of “distributive justice” if you like. Philosophically speaking, I like the schools of thought of John Rawls and Michael Sandel. Mansfield has been a pioneer in access, and I think deserves significant support as a leader.’

Chris is a firm believer in leadership by example, and he also credits fellow alumnus and leading benefactor at Mansfield, Guy Hands (PPE, 1978), with playing a part in inspiring his giving to Mansfield today.

‘It’s about the past influencing the present, and the people in the present hopefully influencing the people to come. A future major benefactor to Mansfield probably already exists and is hopefully reading this.

‘In my view, the ideal outcome is if every alum chooses to support the Campaign, with whatever they are able to give, be that £20 a month or a £25m gift. The idea of a community coming together to say, ”yes, that place is important to me, I want to be a part of this effort.” That groundswell of support from many, is to me just as meaningful as one person giving millions. You are sending a message to the future that this is important.

‘I’d like to think that every Mansfield alum thinks this College is a special institution. And it’s important we don’t take Mansfield for granted. It seems incredible to me that the Oxford college that has done the most to widen access, is almost at the bottom in terms of its endowment.

’Elite education is a lot like elite sport: you get the best results when you invest in talent that comes from the biggest talent pool possible. Backing access to opportunity for all, offered to the best and brightest, no matter their background, is something the pioneering admissions tutors at Mansfield have been doing for decades. And we need to support them to continue it.

‘Mansfield’s future isn’t yet secure, but I believe in what it stands for, what it has achieved so far, and I admire the ambitious, entrepreneurial and forward-thinking leadership today. Humans, by our nature, often go for the easier option in life, the path of least resistance. But the world needs leaders who push for what’s right, not what’s easy, to bring about the change that needs to happen. That’s what Mansfield is doing and that’s what this Campaign intends to achieve. And I believe in that.’

The late US investor and philanthropist, Charlie Munger, once said: ’…if you have a big edge, back it heavily, because you don’t get a big edge often. Opportunity comes, but it doesn’t come often, so seize it when it does.’

This is a quote that resonates strongly with Chris as, for him, the opportunity to secure Mansfield’s future is now. He is pleased he gets to see the impact of his investment at Mansfield now, and to know, through building the College’s endowment and asset base, that his generosity will also benefit students here for many decades to come.

As Chris asserts: ’To secure Mansfield, someone needs to take that risk and step up – much like Janet took a risk on me back in 1997. That someone can be us, the wider Mansfield alumni community.’

Chris’s thoughtful giving and incredible generosity to Mansfield has been inspired by current and past philanthropists, particularly those investing in elite higher education institutions. Like them, he understands the power of education to bring about change in society, and he highlights the words of Andrew Carnegie:

’The best means of benefiting the community is to place within its reach the ladders upon which the aspiring can rise.’