Jonathan and Jeannie Lavine
(both MBA 1992)

Jonathan S. Lavine (MBA 1992) and Jeannie Bachelor Lavine (MBA 1992) met at HBS, and in the 25 years since they graduated, their appreciation for the importance of diversity in the HBS classroom has only deepened. In order to promote inclusion, they recently contributed $12 million to support fellowships at HBS, the largest single gift for financial aid the School has ever received. Their generous contribution 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. The fellowships create a challenge fund designed to inspire other HBS donors to support fellowships in the fiscal year ending June 30, 2018. They also donated $500,000 to the HBS Fund for Leadership and Innovation. The Lavines, who are serving as cochairs of their class’s 25th Reunion Campaign, are particularly interested in supporting students who are the first in their families to attend college. They have specified that where possible, the fellowships should be made available to those students. “We do not believe that intellect is distributed based on income,” said the Lavines in announcing their gift. “We believe that enabling students who might otherwise not have the opportunity to attend HBS will have the greatest impact, not only on their lives but on the broader community as well.” The Lavines are longtime supporters of multiple Harvard initiatives, including scholarships at Harvard College (from which Jeannie also graduated) and a training program for humanitarian relief workers at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, where they serve as cochairs of the school’s capital campaign. “My father had to take on loans, and it was his dream to have his own children attend college without the burden of debt or having to work during school,” said Jeannie, noting that her father became an investment banker partly in order to repay his loans. “Jonathan and I wanted to pay it forward and give other people the opportunities that we’ve had.”

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