Harvard Gets Its Biggest Donation Ever: $350M

Money goes to School of Public Health
By Matt Cantor,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 8, 2014 4:20 AM CDT
Harvard Gets Its Biggest Donation Ever: $350M
Sarah Ashley Wheaton, center front, joins with other graduates from Harvard Law School as they wave gavels and cheer during Harvard commencement ceremonies, May 29, 2014, in Cambridge, Mass.   (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

An alum is handing Harvard its biggest donation ever. The university's School of Public Health will receive $350 million from Gerald Chan, 63, the head of a property developer in Hong Kong. He chose the School of Public Health for his donation after he was inspired by a teacher at the school, the Wall Street Journal reports. Chan wants to see the money go to research fighting Ebola and other worldwide threats; meanwhile, the school will be renamed after his father as the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health. As the Journal points out, the donation to the rich school fits a trend: Last year, schools that already had more than $1 billion in cash and investments took 67% of the year's total gift money, while schools with less than $100 million received less than 3%. (More Harvard stories.)

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