Administrators sam_webmaster Posted October 19, 2012 Administrators Share Posted October 19, 2012 Ertegun scholarship formally opened By Jonathan Mayo A study house for humanities scholars, funded in part by Led Zeppelin, has formally opened on St Giles this week. The band pledged to donate money from their 2007 sell-out concert in the London O2 Arena to an educational establishment in honour of Atlantic Records founder Ahmet Ertegun, prompting his widow, Mica Ertegun, to donate £26 million to Oxford University. The donation has been used to form The Mica and Ahmet Ertegun Graduate Scholarship Programme in the Humanities. The scholarship will provide full funding for 16 world-class graduates in subjects including literature, history, music, archaeology, art history and Asian studies. Ertegun was responsible for discovering and signing Led Zepellin in 1968, and the band paid tribute to him via video link at the opening of Ertegun House. “Ahmet always said that it was his own education that gave him the foundation to broaden his vision and pursue great things in music,” said guitarist Jimmy Page. “It’s a marvellous tribute to him that the Ertegun programme is now launched.” Speaking at the launch of the study centre, Mica Ertegun explained that she wanted to provide “enduring inspiration for brilliant and enthusiastic students from all over the world to devote themselves to the study of the humanities”. She added: “My dream is that, one day, Ertegun Scholars will be leaders in every field – as historians and philosophers, as archaeologists and literary scholars, as writers and composers, as statesmen and theologians.” Prof Andrew Hamilton, Oxford University Vice-Chancellor, has promised that the university will support Mrs Ertegun’s financial contribution by funding an additional five Ertegun scholarships next year and extending the programme to at least 35 scholars in 2014. He said: “The Ertegun Programme supports Oxford University’s commitment to providing financial support that allows the brightest graduates to study at the University, whatever their personal circumstances. “The University is pleased to provide additional studentships and augment Mrs Ertegun’s extraordinary philanthropy. “We are excited to be welcoming the inaugural class of Ertegun Scholars to the University of Oxford,” added Hamilton. Joe Snape, an Ertegun scholar studying at Musicology at New College, said: “It’s an amazing opportunity to come to Oxford to study in such a fantastic facility, together with a bunch of really motivated, passionate people. “In simple, financial terms, [the scholarship] makes the difference between being able to continue studying or not. He continued: “I applied to Oxford because I knew there was more funding available than at many other places. “I expected a lot when I arrived – it is honestly more amazing than I could have dared hope,” he added. All the Scholars are provided with a dedicated working area within Ertegun House for research and writing, and will be mentored by Dr Bryan Ward-Perkins, Oxford historian and archaeologist, who is famous for his book ‘The Fall of Rome and the End of Civilization’. http://oxfordstudent.com/2012/10/19/ertegun-scholarship-formally-opened/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cecil. Posted October 20, 2012 Share Posted October 20, 2012 I really hope this does pluck a few diamonds in the rough, and says here is your chance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrycja Posted October 20, 2012 Share Posted October 20, 2012 In a time when education is becoming inceasingly commodified, this is a generous gift that will leave an important legacy in fields whose values and contributions are taken for granted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ksgemini Posted October 21, 2012 Share Posted October 21, 2012 this is a good thing...I admit to bias- as a teacher myself - but education has become less and less of a priority in a lot of areas....I remember Robert once saying he wanted to leave Zep and become a teacher in the 70's...I'll get a lot of criticism for this due to shark stories and road excess but I still believe Zep is one of the "smartest bands" there ever was ...I won't make comparisons because I don't want to slag any one else. I'll just leave at this ...12/10/7 was a nice way to honor Ahmet's memory and I hope a good portion of the cd's/dvd's from that night make it to the fund. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperDave Posted October 21, 2012 Share Posted October 21, 2012 this is a good thing...I admit to bias- as a teacher myself - but education has become less and less of a priority in a lot of areas....I remember Robert once saying he wanted to leave Zep and become a teacher in the 70's...I'll get a lot of criticism for this due to shark stories and road excess but I still believe Zep is one of the "smartest bands" there ever was ...I won't make comparisons because I don't want to slag any one else. I'll just leave at this ...12/10/7 was a nice way to honor Ahmet's memory and I hope a good portion of the cd's/dvd's from that night make it to the fund. I couldn't agree with you more on LZ being one of the smartest bands ever! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators sam_webmaster Posted November 2, 2012 Author Administrators Share Posted November 2, 2012 On October 10, 2012, Ertegun House opened its doors in St Giles in the heart of Oxford. A four-storey building dedicated to the pursuit of higher education and research, it bears the family name of the man who founded of Atlantic Records and in whose honour Led Zeppelin reformed in 2007. Indeed, the Ahmet Ertegun Tribute Concert headlined by Zeppelin was intended to benefit The Mica And Ahmet Ertegun Graduate Scholarship Programme. Overseen by Mica Ertegun, Ahmet's widow, the programme made a donation of £26 million to Oxford University, one of the largest contributions in the institution's 900-year history. "It's a real achievement and I'm glad that we were part of it," says Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones who was involved with the unveiling of the Ertegun Scholarship Programme in February of this year. "It's not just a music scholarship, it covers all the Liberal Arts. It's an amazing thing in this day and age because there's no bottom line, or a what-do-we-get-out-of-this kind of thing. It's not in any way a commercial decision. It's a purely philanthropic decision and it's in perpetuity." The aim of the programme is to fund the passage of an initial 16 students through Oxford. This is expected to rise to 35 students in subsequent years, all of whom will benefit from the facilities of Ertegun House. "It's particularly good that [the programme] is aimed at supporting the Liberal Arts because in this day and age there's a view that suggests "OK, you've done the basket weaving but you really need to do engineering or something commercial or useful", and that's misguided," observes Jones. "I think that the Liberal Arts are absolutely essential for life and yet they're the first things to get cut these days. "Cut the Arts Council budget! They're only skivvers anyway!" That's wrong. I think the scholarships are extraordinarily generous thing to do and it's great that we were involved." For more information on the Ertegun Scholarships, head over here. http://www.mojo4musi...million_sh.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrzej Posted November 2, 2012 Share Posted November 2, 2012 http://media.podcasts.ox.ac.uk/humdiv/ertegun/2012-10-10_launch.mp4 17:26 Ertegun House Opening Led Zeppelin Message Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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