How pleasant to meet Dr James Martin. Dressed in a Burberry raincoat, and accompanied by his wife Lillian, he looked like an affable, well-heeled academic in his 70s as he entered the Victorian splendour of the former Indian Institute — now the The James Martin 21st Century School, on the corner of Broad Street and Holywell Street.

Yet Dr Martin, who has already given Oxford University $100m (or £72m), has thrown down the gauntlet to other millionaires to raise a further £72m. Under the James Martin 21st Century School Challenge, he has pledged to match every donation of $1m (£720,000) or more, up to a maximum of £36m.

He said: “My view is that while we may be distracted by today’s credit crunch, we must not forget the bigger picture — that we need to safeguard the future for the generations that follow.”

The entrepreneur and author — he wrote The Wired Society: A Challenge for Tomorrow — told The Oxford Times: “I believe we are going through a revolution now which will change the world, change humanity. There have been such times in history — the Renaissance in 15th-century Italy, the Athens of Pericles — but this is another such time.”

He added that people of his daughter’s generation (she is 33) will, by the mid-21st century, look back on our time much as we look back on the Dark Ages, so great are the changes on the way, in science, technology, and in governmental systems.

While admitting that the problems are “terrifying”, he espouses a positive, can-do attitude.

He said: “If people take the right actions now there could be a lifestyle far better than today. It could be magnificent.”

The core of his vision for the 21st Century School is the idea of “joined-up thinking”, with the world’s finest minds from diverse disciplines coming together to solve the world’s problems.

Dr Martin, a former Keble College student who made a fortune in the electronics business, said: “The vice-chancellor told me the other day that this school could change the university.

“And I don’t think you could make a school like this anywhere else but in Oxford.”

The 21st Century School’s first director is Dr Ian Goldin, a former vice-president of the World Bank, who also sees our century as “pivotal”.

He said: “Far-reaching challenges, such as ageing populations, migration, climate change, energy crises, and unprecedented scientific advances, bring urgent questions and a need for more informed decision-making nationally and internationally.”

Already the school has 15 so-called institutes, bringing together the world’s top researchers into such subjects as emerging infections which might yet pose larger threats to mankind than Aids; stem cell biology, where Oxford University research is in the forefront; the ethical questions raised by bioscience; and big-picture research where researchers examine the risk of global catastrophes that might wipe out people completely, as well as examining technologies which might lead to fundamental changes in human nature.

Heady stuff, but since we are in the middle of a financial meltdown I asked Dr Goldin whether the school might not examine the future of capitalism itself. The answer was yes. Indeed, only a fortnight ago leaders of top central banks, regulators, academics, and leaders in the private sector came to Oxford to debate whether or not there are “systemic” problems built into capitalism.

Dr Goldin said: “At the heart of the issue is how you govern multi-national companies when you have a world of nation states.

“In recent decades there has been an acceleration of globalisation partly facilitated by technology, fibre optics, and financial derivatives. Governments make national choices with global implications.

“Now we need crisis-management skills and the wisdom to produce real leadership at a global level.”

He added that there are four criteria for the school’s projects.

First, there is sheer scale — it must address a problem or opportunity of truly global significance.

Second, there is excellence — it must bring together top academics and thinkers from around the world.

Third comes impact — it must provide a transmission belt between academia and the real world, in other words it must have the potential to make a difference.

Lastly, it must be value-added, providing something in addition to what would have occurred anyway.

But back to Dr Martin.

After leaving Oxford he joined IBM but then moved on to found the consultancy DMW (Doll Martin Worldwide), later renamed James Martin Associates (JMA).

Now he has homes in South Africa, USA and Bermuda, where he owns an island called Agar’s Island.

The magazine ComputerWorld ranked him fourth of 25 individuals who have most influenced computer science.

He said that some of the happiest days of his life had been spent at Oxford but, intriguingly, when I suggested that he was a businessman anxious to “give something back” he denied that he was a businessman at all.

He said: “I am simply someone fascinated by the power of ideas who wants to see integrated action for the future of humanity; to put the jigsaw together. Things are getting better.

“There was the Declaration of Human Rights in 1946, and 20th-century developments such as the Internet were marvellous.

“And now Obama is taking us back to the principles of America’s founding fathers.”

He realises that problems loom ahead, but how pleasant to meet such a positive-thinking man; one who has spent his entire adult life turning problems into opportunities.