A lasting legacy

Bequests have played a vital role in shaping the University of Adelaide. Today, their legacy lives on in some of the University's most utilised and renowned facilities.

The University of Adelaide would be a very different place if it weren't for bequests. Imagine the North Terrace campus without Elder Hall, or the University without its Waite campus--these are just two examples of facilities provided by gifts by will.

"Bequests have had a profound impact on the development of the University and one that is still very much apparent today," says the University's Bequest Officer, Jon Russack.

"As you stroll around the campus grounds, you realise that you are looking at the legacy of philanthropic vision. This vision for a University came not from governments but from many private individuals who donated the funds to fulfil their dreams for the future."

Among these private individuals are some of the University's most famous names--for instance, Elder and Waite.

In 1897, Sir Thomas Elder bequeathed the sum of £65,000 for Medicine, Music and the University in general. These funds were, in part, used to establish Elder Hall, a landmark building on the North Terrace campus and home of music at the University. Over a century after his gift, Elder's name and impact live on, celebrated every day in the continued use of one of Australia's finest concert halls.

Peter Waite bequeathed most of his substantial lands and properties, at Urrbrae, Claremont and Netherby, together with Urrbrae House and ancillary buildings, as well as a trust fund of £60,000 to the University in 1922. The University used these gifts to establish the internationally renowned Waite campus, which today encompasses the largest agricultural research complex in the Southern Hemisphere.

"We can learn a lot from people like Sir Thomas Elder and Peter Waite," says Jon. "If we can combine their spirit of generosity with today's vision of a world-leading university in research and teaching excellence for the following generations, we have the power to make an amazing impact for the future."

A new brochure is available which emphasises the importance of bequests in the University's development, both in the past and for our future, and provides a guide for anyone thinking of making a bequest. Ways of making bequests are flexible--gifts can be designated for the benefit of the University in general, directed to a specific area, the capital can be held in perpetuity and invested in the University of Adelaide Composite Fund with the income used for the designated purpose.

Bequests don't need to be as large as Elder's or Waite's in order to make a real difference. Every bequest, no matter what its size, leaves a lasting legacy that will impact on the lives of generations of students at the University of Adelaide. ■

To obtain a copy of the bequest brochure, or for more information, please contact Jon Russack,
Development and Alumni:
Phone: (08) 8303 3234
Email: jonathan.russack@adelaide.edu.au

Story Lana Guineay