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https://uk.yahoo.com/news/oxford-college-renames-itself-155m-183715467.html The Telegraph Oxford college to be renamed after budget airline tycoon who made £155m donation Camilla Turner Tue, 2 November 2021, 6:37 pm The name of Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao, left, who made her fortune with a 'bikini airline', will replace that of Thomas Linacre An Oxford college has announced it will be renamed after a wealthy Vietnamese benefactor. Linacre College will become Thao College, named after Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao, a budget airline magnate who is Vietnam’s first self-made female billionaire. The graduate college, which was founded in 1962, is currently named after the distinguished humanist and physician Thomas Linacre, who was born in Canterbury in the mid-fifteenth century. The college was named after Linacre to commemorate him as “an outstanding Renaissance figure” whose accomplishments “established him as one of the great scholars of his time”. Another reason for the college to take Linacre’s name was because it hoped to reflect his “breadth of learning in its own multi-disciplinary purpose and ideals”. But the college announced this week that it would change its name in exchange for a “landmark gift” of £155 million from Ms Thao’s company, Sovico Group. The red brick buildings of Linacre College are seen on a sunny day The announcement was met with mixed feelings among Oxford dons. Dr Maria Kawthar Daouda, a lecturer in French literature at Oxford University, said that college names should not be altered simply because “a major gift has been made”. She said that the name Linacre “bears a deep history”, adding: “Thankfulness for Madam Thao’s money could be expressed in ways that do not erase what the donation is meant to protect.” Meanwhile, others felt more sympathetic with the decision, saying it was the “American way” for universities to accept large donations and naming an institution after the benefactor in return. “If this were one of the great historic colleges one would have deep reservations,” one don told The Telegraph. “But as it's a modern college and has not got a big endowment, one can understand the decision. If someone is going to put in a colossal amount of money, it’s not unreasonable to have something to show for it.”