“I give back to express my gratitude,” says Ted Ferrara (MBA 1990). “The School is in the business of changing lives and it certainly changed mine.” Before coming to HBS, Ferrara had never lived outside of Minneapolis. He went to trade school after high school and then earned a liberal arts degree at night while working in the family heating and cooling business.

Initially the idea of a Harvard education seemed both unnecessary and far-fetched to Ferrara, but the more he learned about HBS, the more intrigued he became. “The program was right up my alley,” says Ferrara, who applied, was waitlisted, and then rejected. “I gave it everything I had,” he recalls. He was ready to give up, but his then wife encouraged him to follow up with a call to HBS’s admissions director, Laura Gordon Fisher. “I know who you are. We had a very hard time rejecting you,” Ferrara remembers her saying. The problem, she explained, was that despite a compelling application, the School wasn’t sure he could handle the quantitative work. “I’m someone who focuses on overcoming my weaknesses,” he notes with a laugh. He hadn’t taken undergraduate math and science courses because the subjects came to him naturally. He followed Fisher’s advice, enrolled in appropriate classes, scored well, reapplied, and was admitted.

Becoming a Better Leader

HBS, says Ferrara, was a growth experience, both academically and personally. He found his classmates to be smart, supportive, and critical, and the case method pedagogy “so relevant to making you a better leader.” Ferrara was so inspired by the transformational experience the School provided that he has been a regular contributor to the HBS Fund since earning his MBA and is a member of the HBS Fund Investors Society. In particular, his sectionmate Kevin Maroni, who serves as a class fundraiser, has been instrumental in encouraging him to support HBS.

Upon graduation, he fulfilled the promise he’d made to his father and brothers and returned to the family business to apply what he’d learned and take the company to the next level. “I came out of HBS with a much deeper and broader understanding of the business world in general. I had tools to help with decision making, and an appreciation of the fact that in addition to succeeding in business, I could help my community,” he says.

Today Ferrara serves as advisor to Standard Heating & Air Conditioning, the company his father founded in 1930. He works alongside his brother and his daughter, Claire, who joined the company after earning both bachelor’s and trade school degrees in air conditioning technology and is now majority owner. The company is known for providing excellent service and for its philanthropy in the Twin Cities.

Trusting the Institution

In addition to giving annually to the HBS Fund, Ferrara has made an enduring commitment by including support for the HBS Fund in his will. “I consider it a privilege to be able to give back,” he says. As to supporting the HBS Fund, Ferrara says, “I believe in unrestricted support because I trust the institution to use it in the best way.” A case in point, he offers, is the unexpected costs associated with the pandemic. “No one could have seen this coming. That’s why giving the administration flexibility is so important.” A regular reunion attendee, he describes his sectionmates as “some of the finest people I’ve ever met.”

Ferrara keeps a framed copy of his HBS rejection letter right next to his HBS diploma. It’s a lesson, he says, in the power of resilience when pursuing a dream.

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