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Sir Peter Lampl speaking at Policy Exchange

Sir Peter Lampl, OBE (born 1947), is a British philanthropist. He was the founder and chairman of the Sutton Trust and the Education Endowment Foundation.[1]

Early life and education

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Lampl's father was a Viennese émigré who came to Britain in 1938. Lampl grew up in Barnsley, Yorkshire, and as the family moved to Surrey when he was 11, he was educated at Reigate Grammar School[2] and Cheltenham Grammar School. He studied at Corpus Christi College, Oxford, and the London Business School.

Business career

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Lampl worked outside Britain for over twenty years, initially as a management consultant with The Boston Consulting Group in Boston, Massachusetts, Paris and Munich. He then worked as an executive at International Paper, the world's largest paper and forest products company, where he spent six years in senior management positions.

In 1983, Lampl set up the Sutton Company, a private equity firm with offices in New York City, London and Munich, and by the mid-1990s had become extremely wealthy.[3] Before setting up the Sutton Trust, he funded a campaign to ban handguns[4] in the wake of the Dunblane massacre which resulted in a complete ban on handguns in the UK.[5]

Educational philanthropy

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On his return from America, Lampl was appalled to discover that nowadays "a kid like me had little chance of making it to Oxbridge",[6] noting that his old grammar school was now "all fee-paying" [7] and his old Oxford college "used to have lots of ordinary Welsh kids, but they're not coming through any more."[8]

His first intervention was the creation of the Oxford Summer School, which gave bright 17-year-olds (from families where no one has been to university) the opportunity to spend a week at Oxford living in college, going to seminars and "hanging out with students who are already there." The scheme has since been rolled out to eleven other top universities.[6]

Lampl founded the Sutton Trust in 1997 "to improve educational opportunities for young people from non-privileged backgrounds and increase social mobility."[9] The trust funds a variety of research, campaigning and philanthropical projects, including the "Open Access" programme which funded 70% of places at the academically selective Belvedere School in Liverpool,[10] a scheme which Lampl says the state should eventually expand to 100 or 200 independent day schools who would like to provide "needs-blind" admissions.[11] In this model:[12]

I agree that there will be selection. You are not increasing selection as those [independent] schools are already selective, you are just democratising selection. At present well-off people have the opportunity to opt out of the state sector into what are by and large academically the best schools in the country.... when I was at school you could go to the best academic school in this country for free and that is the way it should be.

Lampl is also chairman of the Education Endowment Foundation which was set up in 2011 [13] by the Sutton Trust with support from Impetus Trust. It was funded by an endowment of £135 million from Government to improve the performance of the poorest children in the worst performing schools.

Lampl was appointed an OBE in 1999 for services to Access to Higher Education,[14] and knighted in June 2003.[15]

He has Honorary Doctorates from: Birmingham, Bristol, Brunel,[16] City University (London), College of Law, Durham, Exeter,[17] Imperial College (London), Nottingham, Open University, St Andrews.[18] And Honorary Fellowships from: Birkbeck College (London), Corpus Christi College (Oxford), Institute of Education, London Business School, London School of Economics.

Personal life

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Lampl and his second wife had 3 children. The ending of this marriage, after 15 years, caused Lampl a depressive episode.[19][20][21] Lampl has been keen to distance himself from accusations of hypocrisy that he educated his own daughters at the exclusive Cheltenham Ladies' College.[citation needed]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Sir Peter Lampl". Who's Who. A & C Black. 2007. (Available online to subscribers including members of most UK public libraries)
  2. ^ "Notable Past Pupils". The Old Reigatian Association. Archived from the original on 24 June 2008. Retrieved 18 February 2009.
  3. ^ "Britain's elite still drawn from fee-paying schools". Financial Times. Retrieved 29 October 2019.
  4. ^ McCann, Jaymi (13 May 2018). "Sutton Trust tycoon: Too many people are going to university, learn on the job instead". Express.co.uk. Retrieved 29 October 2019.
  5. ^ Cook, Chris (26 July 2013). "Lunch with the FT: Sir Peter Lampl". Financial Times. Retrieved 20 June 2019.
  6. ^ a b Eleanor Mills (22 July 2007). "An opening in Oxford". The Sunday Times. Archived from the original on 18 May 2009. Retrieved 18 February 2009.
  7. ^ "Big Spender". theguardian.com. 27 March 2007.
  8. ^ Dominic Lawson (18 January 2009). "Stuck fast in the myth of social immobility". The Sunday Times. Retrieved 18 February 2009.[dead link]
  9. ^ "Sutton Trust : Home". Archived from the original on 25 December 2008. Retrieved 18 February 2009.
  10. ^ McCormack, Steve (16 April 2004). "Still Blair's favourite millionaire?". The Independent.
  11. ^ "Minutes of Evidence". Select Committee on Education and Skills. www.parliament.uk. 10 November 2003. p. Question 334. Retrieved 18 February 2009.
  12. ^ "Minutes of Evidence". Select Committee on Education and Skills. www.parliament.uk. 10 November 2003. p. Question 340. Retrieved 18 February 2009.
  13. ^ "Social Mobility charities put in charge of fund for the poorest children". gov.uk.
  14. ^ "For services to education". BBC News. 4 January 2000. Retrieved 18 February 2009.
  15. ^ "School leaders get top honours". BBC News. 13 June 2003. Retrieved 18 February 2009.
  16. ^ "Honorary graduates Sir Peter Lampl". brunel.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 30 June 2016. Retrieved 24 May 2016.
  17. ^ "Honorary graduates 2010". exeter.ac.uk.
  18. ^ "2011 Honorary graduates". st-andrews.ac.uk.
  19. ^ "I wandered the city in a fog: Sutton Trust founder Sir Peter Lampl reveals lost days of depression".
  20. ^ "London charity tycoon Sir Peter Lampl is found after disappearance". 13 April 2012.
  21. ^ "Lunch with the FT: Sir Peter Lampl". 26 July 2013.
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