Rockefeller Gives $100 Million to Harvard

Recently, Harvard University alumnus David Rockefeller, announced that he will be giving his alma mater the single largest gift from a former student ever, writes Stephanie Strom of The New York Times, (“Rockefeller Gives Harvard $100 Million,” April 25, 2008).

The $100 million gift will be added to the school’s $35 million endowment, the largest among all universities.

Roughly $70 million of the award will help fund the school’s undergraduate international study programs, which have more than doubled in participants over the last four years, and, according to a university survey, have been financially inaccessible for many more Harvard students.

The remainder of the gift will be earmarked for the expansion of the school’s arts education programs.

In a telephone interview with The Times, Rockefeller commented that Harvard played an important role in his life and that the school’s study abroad program helped inspire his passion for studying art. In the summer of 1936, Rockefeller took his first art courses in Germany, where he chose to study to fulfill his foreign language requirement, Strom writes.

Although Harvard will not receive Rockefeller’s $100 million gift until after his death, he has agreed to give the school $2.5 million annually, resulting in the school receiving more than the promised $100 million.

by Student Loan