EXCLUSIVE: £2m St Andrews University donor with links to Israel nearly pulled funds over rector ‘genocide' remarks
The Wolfson Foundation's seven-figure grant for a green energy grant was put in 'serious jeopardy' by the row which erupted in November 2023.
A probe by Lady Ross, then Morag Ross KC, who was appointed on January 17, 2024, said the charity was 'very concerned' after Stella Maris accused Israel of committing genocide.
The charity's name was redacted when the top judge's independent investigation was published by the university on July 29, 2024.
However, today for the first time, The Courier can reveal it was a donation from The Wolfson Foundation that hung in the balance.
Lady Ross' report says the funding was eventually secured by the university following 'a close call'.
She adds that university principal Dame Sally Mapstone had to 'work very hard to repair damage done' when the row escalated.
The judge wrote: 'The principal had to consider potential financial consequences.
'She explained to me that a major project plan had been put in serious jeopardy because the prospective funder, the Wolfson Foundation, had been very concerned about information relating to the university and the statement made by Ms Maris.
'The principal, in particular, but also others, had to work very hard to repair damage done and to rebuild that important relationship.'
A university press release on January 31, 2024 announced the Wolfson Foundation's £2m donation to develop green hydrogen technologies.
The institution hailed the donation as a 'seal of approval for the quality of the pioneering research' taking place in St Andrews.
The charity was established in 1958 by Sir Isaac Wolfson, a Scottish businessman and philanthropist.
The Wolfson Foundation, while best known for supporting science, education, and the arts across the UK, has historic ties to the Jewish community and also backs projects in Israel through related family trusts.
It previously gave £2m to St Andrews University's medical school in 2008 to open a new biophotonics laboratory.
The report by Lady Ross into Ms Maris found she was 'in breach of her obligations' as a member of the university court and charity trustee.
It said she exercised 'poor judgement' and her social media posts on the conflict in Gaza were 'ill-judged'.
Ms Maris was stripped of her senior powers and removed from the university court after the report's publication.
The rector previously told The Courier she had been subjected to a 'smear campaign'.
On Wednesday, we revealed the university's governance vice-principal Alastair Merrill extended multiple lunch invitations to Lady Ross after her report was completed, but before its publication.
Earlier this month we told how Ms Maris had won her appeal against the decision and would resume her role heading up the university court.
Mid Scotland and Fife Green MSP Mark Ruskell previously raised concerns over whether the donor, then anonymous, influenced the university's decision.
A St Andrews University spokesperson said: 'No donor has influence on university governance, and it is mischievous and disingenuous to suggest otherwise.
'The university has clear regulations governing the receipt of donations.
'There are some facts here that will not change and are consistently overlooked.
'The rector was dismissed from the Court for breaches of governance after she issued her statement.
'The court's decision had nothing at all to do with the statement itself and all parties know this to be the case.
'The independent report found that Ms Maris was 'rude and discourteous' to Jewish students that she represents and has consistently refused to apologise to them or even to meet them.
'The rector signed a declaration that as president of the court, she would abide by the university court's code of conduct and charity law, but subsequently claimed, in writing, that she was independent of the university's administrative and governance structures, despite presiding over court, the university's supreme governing body.
'These two positions are incompatible.'
The Wolfson Foundation was contacted for comment.
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