Cambridge v-c on universities and the poorest billion

By Geoff Maslen. Do the world’s leading universities have a role to play in alleviating the plight of the 1.3 billion people living with extreme poverty and hunger on incomes of less than US$1.25 a day while a further five billion people live on less than $9 per day? The question was raised last Thursday by Cambridge University Vice-chancellor Sir Leszek Borysiewicz. Delivering the Richard Larkins Oration at Monash University in Melbourne, Borysiewicz put forward a powerful argument that yes, universities could do something to tackle global poverty because its consequences were a blight on individuals, society and the planet. Read more...