Opening Doors

01 Sep 2017

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Lavine Family Makes Record-Breaking Gift for Fellowships

“We do not believe that intellect is distributed based on income.”
—Jeannie Lavine (MBA 1992)

Jonathan S. Lavine and Jeannie Bachelor Lavine (both MBA 1992) recently contributed $12 million to support fellowships at HBS, the largest single gift for financial aid the School has ever received, and also donated $500,000 to the HBS Fund for Leadership and Innovation. Their generous gift establishes two endowed funds — the Lavine Family Fellowship and the Herbert J. Bachelor (MBA 1968) Fellowship, which honors Jeannie’s father, a Harvard College graduate who was the first in his family to attend college — and creates a challenge fund designed to inspire other HBS donors to support fellowships in the fiscal year ending June 30, 2018.

The Lavines, who met during their first year at HBS and are now cochairing their class’s 25th Reunion Campaign, are particularly interested in promoting inclusion in the MBA Program. To that end, their fellowship funds will support students who are the first in their families to attend college. In announcing the gift, Jeannie said, “We do not believe that intellect is distributed based on income.” Jonathan added: “We wanted to make a gift where we could have the most impact.”

The Lavines are longtime supporters of multiple Harvard initiatives, including scholarships at Harvard College (from which Jeannie graduated) and a training program for humani tarian relief workers at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, where they serve as cochairs of the school’s capital campaign.

To learn more about the fellowship challenge, visit alumni.hbs.edu/LavineChallenge.

(photo by Kelly Fitzsimmons)

“I want to help put others in a position to choose careers based on impact and enrich ment, not just a paycheck.”
—Monne Williams (MBA 2012)

HBS Fund Supports Core Priorities Including Financial Aid

An easy way for all alumni to support financial aid is through the HBS Fund for Leadership and Innovation. Annual gifts to the HBS Fund play a critical role in the School’s ability to meet the growing demand for need-based fellowships, which nearly 50 percent of MBA students receive each year.

Monne Williams (MBA 2012), a former fellowship recipient, began making gifts to the HBS Fund shortly after graduation. She allocates her gifts for financial aid in order to pay it forward. “My fellowship reduced the economic pressures so I could really immerse myself in the experience and consider a variety of options after graduating,” she explains. “I want to help put others in a position to choose careers based on impact and enrichment, not just a paycheck.”

(photo by Susan Young)