“Chuck Feeney was an exceptional entrepreneur, citizen of the world and friend to people in need,” said Peter Smitham, former Board Chair of The Atlantic Philanthropies. 

Chuck Feeney. Shane O'Neill/Fennell Photography

Charles Francis “Chuck” Feeney’s generosity of spirit extended around the world and resonated within the University of the Western Cape. He passed away on 9 October 2023.

In 2010, the Rector and Vice-Chancellor at the time, Professor Brian O’ Connell, led the fundraising efforts to construct two new buildings at the University’s main campus in Bellville. In the book, From Hope Through Action and Knowledge: The Renaissance of the University of the Western Cape 2001 - 2014, the editors Professor Ramesh Bharuthram and Mr Larry Pokpas detail the construction of the buildings and how Chuck Feeney and The Atlantic Philanthropies group assisted. 

They write: “(Prof O’ Connell) was able to impress Mr Charles (Chuck) Feeney, founder of The Atlantic Philanthropies (AP), who endorsed Brian O’Connell’s vision and donated R200-million for the construction of the new Life Sciences Building and the School of Public Health Building. This was by far the biggest donation in the history of UWC.”

Professor Winston Hide had already established the SA National Bioinformatics Institute (SANBI), and it would find a home in the newly financed and constructed Life Sciences building.

Reflecting on Feeney’s life and philanthropy, Prof Hide said: “Chuck wanted to know how we could grow our impact on health across Africa. His contribution meant that our graduates and faculty have led the establishment and understanding of genomics across Africa. We were able to drive in depth understanding of the genome of the tsetse fly – the vector for sleeping sickness, many studies of HIV, TB and malaria and cancers and powerful systems for understanding and managing African human genomes.”

Prof Hide added: “Chuck took a personal interest in the University of Western Cape, ensuring that we understand his philosophy of kindness and impact. He flew me to meet him in Brisbane, Australia, and as founder and director of the South African National Bioinformatics Institute (SANBI) at UWC, my primary mission was, ‘Get to know Chuck’.”

Hide said that Feeney made a commitment to UWC and they in turn committed to academic excellence. 

“Chuck insisted I get to know his philosophy of ‘kindness with impact’. We worked to build a plan for the growth of health bioinformatics in Africa. Chuck saw that bioinformatics – which uses only computers and trains people - was a powerful way forward for UWC and South Africa. He wanted to put UWC on the map,” he said.

“We promised to publish 20 scientific papers. As a direct result of Chuck’s support, we went from a makeshift laboratory in old classrooms to a wonderful purpose-built building. Since then, SANBI has published more than 200 scientific papers and has graduated 34 PhD students and 36 Master’s students.”