David Harding founded Winton, a global investment management and data science company, in 1997. Winton’s business utilises computing technology to apply mathematical and statistical methods to the field of investing. Claudia Harding is the Managing Trustee of the David and Claudia Harding Foundation, and is a Trustee of the Science Museum Foundation.
The couple have donated to numerous scientific and mathematical causes in the UK and internationally, including the University of Cambridge, the Science Museum, the Crick Institute and the Max Planck Institute in Berlin. The main themes of their philanthropy have been supporting basic scientific research and the communication of scientific ideas.
David and Claudia Harding have been generous supporters of the University of Cambridge and St Catharine’s College for many years. They have funded a broad range of areas including the Winton Programme for the Physics of Sustainability at the Cavendish Laboratory, the Winton Centre for Risk and Evidence Communication, and research in a diverse array of fields including exoplanets, financial history and data science.
The Harding Distinguished Postgraduate Scholars Programme has been established thanks to an unprecedented £100 million donation from the David and Claudia Harding Foundation. In addition, this very generous gift also assists the Student Support Initiative and the Harding Challenge.