John Sawhill, a senior lecturer at HBS and president and CEO of The Nature Conservancy, died of complications from diabetes in May at the age of 63. Sawhill, whose research focused on the nonprofit sector, joined the HBS faculty in 1997 as part of the School's Initiative on Social Enterprise. His seminar Effective Leadership of Social Enterprises prepared students for leadership roles in nonprofit management.

Of his work at HBS, Sawhill once commented, "I want to expose students to leaders who have been effective at strengthening nonprofit management. I also want them to get a sense of the excitement, fulfillment, and real social purpose that people working in these institutions experience." During his ten-year tenure, The Nature Conservancy became the world's largest private conservation group and protected more than seven million acres in the United States alone.

"John Sawhill was a person of remarkable wisdom, experience, vision, and compassion," said Dean Kim B. Clark. "He has been taken from us much too soon, but his life was filled with accomplishments that protected the environment and improved the lives of all of us."

Born in Cleveland, Sawhill graduated from Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs in 1958. He earned a Ph.D. in economics in 1963 from New York University, where he served as professor of economics and president of the university from 1975 to 1979. At a trying time in NYU's history, he received widespread acclaim for bringing about an academic and financial turnaround in the country's largest private university.

Contributions in Sawhill's memory can be made to The Nature Conservancy, c/o the President's Office, 4245 N. Fairfax Drive, Arlington, VA 22203.

Post a Comment