The O'Reilly Foundation is a personal charitable trust set up in 1998 by media magnate, and former CEO of

Heinz The Kraft Heinz Foods Company, formerly the H. J. Heinz Company and commonly known as Heinz (), is an American food processing company headquartered at One PPG Place in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The company was founded by Henry J. Heinz in 1869. ...

, Sir Anthony "Tony" O'Reilly. Its stated function is the funding of educational projects; the two main work areas in its active period were funding of capital developments at Irish colleges, and an annual post-graduate scholarship programme for young people normally resident in

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

, with the aim of "supporting charitable endeavours for the betterment of

and to promote excellence, global vision, community responsibility and leadership."

Governance and staffing

General authority is vested in a board of trustees including, from the beginning, O'Reilly's wife

Chryss Goulandris Chryssanthie, Lady O'Reilly (née Goulandris; also known as Christina; 27 June 1950 – 23 August 2023) was a Greek-American businesswoman who was one of the richest women associated with Ireland. For many years, she owned a major horse breedi ...

, Lady O'Reilly, as chairperson, plus his six children from his first marriage: Susan Wildman,

Cameron O'Reilly Anthony Cameron O'Reilly, generally known as Cameron O'Reilly, (born 28 April 1964) is a Dublin-born businessman with Irish and Australian citizenship, the son of an Irish father, media magnate Tony O'Reilly and an Australian mother, Susan Came ...

, Justine O'Reilly,

Gavin O'Reilly Gavin Karl O'Reilly is an Irish-Australian businessman known for his roles in media and consulting. Early life O'Reilly is the eldest of triplets and the fourth of six children, the son of businessman Sir Tony O'Reilly and Susan O'Reilly (né ...

, Caroline Dempsey, and

Tony O'Reilly, Junior St. John Anthony O'Reilly, generally Tony O'Reilly, Junior (born 1966 in Dublin) is a businessman with Irish and Australian citizenship, the third son and sixth child of former Heinz Chairman & CEO and Irish media magnate Tony O'Reilly and Au ...

. The oversight of the postgraduate scholarship scheme was vested in the Scholarship Board, first chaired by the economist T. K. Whitaker, and subsequently by former Registrar of

University College Dublin University College Dublin (), commonly referred to as UCD, is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland. With 38,417 students, it is Ireland's largest ...

, Professor Emeritus John Kelly. The Foundation has just one staff member, an executive secretary.

Capital projects

The Foundation made a major contribution in May 2000 to complete funding of the 50% privately funded €22.2 million new library building for

Dublin City University Dublin City University (abbreviated as DCU) () is a Third-level education in the Republic of Ireland, university based on the Northside, Dublin, Northside of Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Created as the ''National Institute for Highe ...

, later named "The John and Aileen O'Reilly Library" in honour of Dr. O'Reilly's parents.

Scholarship Programme

Sponsorship

The programme, which began in 1999, provided awards of around 25,400 euro annually. In most years, two Scholars were nominated, for two years each, but in some years, there were three Scholars, and in some years, there could be a Scholar with a one-year award. The Foundation sponsored scholars who have an excellent academic record (First Class Honours - in the Irish / British systems - preferred) and who "have demonstrated leadership qualities", as well as the "potential and desire to make a significant contribution to the future of

" . The scholarships were stated to be chiefly aimed at Ph.D. candidates but have in fact been awarded for a wide range of types of student. Certain disciplines were noted as preferences, namely Business Studies and Marketing, Science and Technology, Arts, Media Studies and Law.

Alumni

Over the first eleven years, or as the official website calls them, "cycles", of the programme, there were 26 awards made. Among the awardees were: *

Ruth Gilligan Ruth Gilligan (born 12 March 1988) is an Irish writer, journalist and university lecturer, born in Dublin. Early life Gilligan's father was an accountant and her mother a speech therapist. Her brother David is ten years her senior, and the famil ...

, 11th cycle, commencing 2009, BA in English Literature at Cambridge University, to be followed by a Masters in Creative Writing at a US university

Suspension of new awards, 2009

After 11 cycles, the Trustees decided to invite no applications and make no award in 2009, pending a review of the work of the Programme to date by the Board of Trustees, with inputs from the Scholarship Board.

References

{{Reflist

External links

The O'Reilly Foundation website (primarily on the Scholarship Programme)
Educational foundations Scholarships in the United States