CANBERRA-BORN billionaire Graham Tuckwell and his wife Louise have donated $50 million to the Australian National University to fund undergraduate scholarships. 

The donation –  the largest ever by an Australian to an Australian university – supports a scholarship worth up to $100,000 per student for the life (up to five years) of their undergraduate degree.

The financial component of the scholarship is intended to cover on-campus residential costs, books and general living expenses. Scholarships are set to run in perpetuity over the next 20 years.

Mr Tuckwell studied at ANU before his global successes led him to set up ETF Securities Limited, which issues exchange traded products and has about $30 billion in assets.

He will travel to Canberra each year to sit on the selection committee and mentor the scholars, who must have an Australian Tertiary Admission Rank of 95 or above.

Chief Minister Katy Gallagher says the “extremely generous” donation is an amazing show of support for students hoping to be part of Canberra’s higher education sector.

“Today’s announcement will give more students around the country an opportunity to study in Canberra at one of the nation’s leading universities,” she says.

“Our city continues to excel in higher education, with all universities in the ACT recording an increase in applicants this year, with early offers jumping by 65 per cent.”