Donation helps to create 100 new chairs

A US university has received a donation of more than £56 million, the largest in its history.

The University of California, Berkeley was given the money by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. It will be used to create 100 endowed chairs to attract world-class staff, keep professorial salaries competitive with those at private universities and recruit top graduate students.

The donation will be matched with other contributions, creating a £110 million endowment and £1.5 million for supporting infrastructure.