CITY, University of London has picked a new name for its business school, ending a 20-year association with Sir John Cass, a Georgian merchant and politician who profited from the slave trade.

Last July, the Cass business school promised to change its name as part of its commitment to addressing issues of inequality.

The school said yesterday that, from September, the school will be named after 18th-century mathematician Thomas Bayes, with the choice motivated by his theorem that “we get closer to the truth by constantly updating our beliefs in proportion to the weight of new evidence.”

City president Professor Paul Curran said: “The renaming of the business school marks the start of a new chapter in City’s history, but certainly not the end of our work to address racial inequality.

“Last summer, City embarked on a review of historic sources of funding to learn lessons from the past. We have been listening to our community and are pursuing actions to ensure that City is a diverse and inclusive place to work and study.”