The University of Oxford's Oriel College has received a £1 million donation from one of its biggest benefactors.

The gift from Hoi Tung, who studied engineering at Oxford before graduating in 1991, will finance the fellowship in mechanical engineering and sponsor a bookshelf in the library.

Born in Wenzhou, China, his family migrated to Hong Kong in 1988 when he was 17.

Oriel CollegeOriel College (Image: Oriel College)

He said: “My father was a highly regarded maths teacher. He is probably smarter than me. But he made the move to Hong Kong for his family. It was not easy.”

Mr Tung was among three students at his private Catholic school in Hong Kong who applied to Oxbridge, two went to Cambridge but Mr Tung was the only one accepted into Oxford.

He continued: "Oxford is the dream university. The tutorial system offering one-to-one private lessons with leading academics was really appealing to us."

Financial barriers nearly stopped his dreams until art collector and entrepreneur Tsui Tsin-Tong agreed to sponsor his education.

Lord Neil Mendoza, provost of Oriel College, said: "Hoi’s very significant generous gift underpins an important post at our college. His funding benefits our entire community."

Mr Tung attributes his success to luck and God, saying: “I am immensely fortunate and very blessed.

“Philanthropy is a positive trait in both Eastern and Western culture. Now that I am able, I would like to help out and give back.”

He added: "The beauty of an Oxford education is that it teaches you to think critically, the ability to innovate.

“I think everyone should try their best to give back to college in whatever way they can.

“Education helps you to think out of the box and develop new ideas. These are things that really matter.”

After graduating, Mr Tung has sustained a strong relationship with Oriel College.

He is part of the provost’s court, the Raleigh Society, and an active member of the Oriel Campaign Board.

After graduating, he returned to China and employed his skills at McKinsey, a management consulting firm.

Across various roles, he has helped multinational companies invest in China while it has undergone rapid economic growth.

The college's current fellow and tutor in engineering science, Dr John Huber, said: "In Oxford terms, mechanical engineering is relatively new, so it is particularly encouraging to have an endowment that makes the subject permanent.

“Having the fellowship endowed gives me and the college great confidence that we can continue teaching the engineers of the future and researching in a rapidly developing subject area which always has new and exciting frontiers.

"This is my dream vocation and I am so happy to be here.”