Academics at the Oxford college were Mark Carney studied today revealed how the new Bank of England head had helped them raise funds for poorer students.
Mr Carney studied at Nuffield College, Oxford, in the early 1990s, getting a Masters degree in economics in 1993 and a doctorate in economics two years later.
Today one of the dons at the prestigious college told how after leaving the university Mr Carney had been invited to use his influential banking connections to help raise funds to sponsor foreign students through the college.
David Hendry, Professor of Economics at the college, said Mr Carney had provided names of people he thought might be willing to sponsor a student and that some of those had then been successfully approached for funds.
Prof Hendry said that although the college is one of the wealthier Oxbridge colleges - Oxford's answer to Cambridge’s Trinity College - with the cost of teaching and living expenses for foreign students being around £18,000 to £20,000 a year any contributions were most welcome.
He added that such sums were beyond the reach of potential students from poor countries in Latin America or northern parts of Mr Carney’s native Canada.
He said: “It is wonderful that the bank has managed to attract Mark and obviously the college is delighted at having one it its alumni end up as the head of the Bank.”
He added: “There has been contact between Nuffield and Mark about a number of topics to do with fundraising for studentships over a number of years.
“He obviously knows the great and good in Canada.
“He put us in touch with people who we were able to raise funds from.”
He said that while some students were able to work to help finance their studies, PhD students had to work “flat out” and so had to be funded directly.
He said that while he did not supervise Mr Carney when he was at Oxford, the Canadian “might well have come to my lectures”.
Another don at the college, Paul Klemperer, Edgeworth Professor of Economics, echoed Prof Hendry’s comments.
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Referring to three of the other key contenders for the job - Bank of England deputy governor Paul Tucker, Financial Services Authority chairman Lord Turner and Sir John Vickers, who led the government’s recent review into breaking up the banks - he said: “He is a fabulous person out of a remarkably strong field.
“All of them are four of the cleverest people you could think of. Trying to choose between the four must have been extremely hard.
"Any one of them would have been absolutely fabulous for the country. We are very fortunate. It was quite impressive that we had such a list to choose from. I don’t think most countries could say that.”
As well as his studies, Mr Carney worked for investment bank Goldman Sachs between 1990 and 2003, including at their London office.
Colleagues in the City also welcomed Mr Carney’s appointment.
Gerard Lyons, chief economist and head of global research at Standard Chartered Bank, tweeted: “Mark Carney brings a proven track record and in addition is an expert on global issues on the financial sector and on regulation.
“I have always been impressed by him when I have come across him at international meetings and global policy fora. He is an excellent appointment as new BoE Governor. An excellent candidate from a strong field.”
