Ratan Tata Chairman Emeritus of the Tata Group, one of India's largest companies, died at the age of 86 at Breach Candy Hospital in Mumbai from age-related issues on 9 October.
Tata Group and Somerville College, University of Oxford are collaborating on the Ratan Tata Building to honour the decade-long friendship between Somerville College and Ratan Tata.
The new building will expand Somerville’s teaching and learning space, support research with global impact, and articulate the College’s vision of a sustainable and forward-looking academic community.
Construction will begin in Spring 2025
Construction will begin in Spring 2025, and the building will include new seminar rooms, offices, spaces for shared study and interdisciplinary collaboration as well as reception rooms and accommodation for visiting academics.
Chairman of the Board of Tata Sons, Mr N Chandrasekaran, said: "In Mr Tata’s vision for India, research and critical inquiry went hand in hand with development and prosperity. This partnership with Somerville College is a tribute to Mr Tata’s values. The building in his name will be home to research that is necessary and urgent for India."
The flagship building will be located at the heart of Oxford University’s new Radcliffe Observatory Quarter which was built from a significant philanthropic donation from the Tata Group.
In Mr Tata’s vision for India, research and critical inquiry went hand in hand with development and prosperity
The transformational generosity of the Tata Group will also enable the creation of a permanent home for the Oxford India Centre for Sustainable Development (OICSD) within the new building.
The values of Tata and the Tata Group align closely with the work of the OICSD, a unique Oxford-India partnership embodying deep, longstanding ties with India and Oxford University’s cutting-edge commitment to world-class scholarship and transformative research.
Further, the winning design for the new building was produced by London-based architects Morris+Company in their first project at the University of Oxford.
The new building will expand Somerville’s teaching and learning space
Somerville College’s Principal, Baroness Royall, said: "This building is the fruit of many conversations, hopes, and dreams over the past decade and our long association with Mr Tata. In its capacity to meet our College’s present and future need, to embody our values, and to guide us towards an exciting future, it is unparalleled."
"Now it will stand as a permanent legacy to the life of a remarkable man and a dear friend of Somerville. I am deeply grateful to Mr Chandrasekaran, Chairman of the Tata Group, and all those involved for enabling us to create this dynamic expression of friendship between Oxford and India, to pay tribute to Mr Tata, and to cement Somerville’s plans as a world-class academic institution."
Top image: Somerville