Photo by Susan Young

Photo by Susan Young

For more than a century, HBS deans have led the School with vision and dedication: setting priorities, addressing the challenges of the day, and preparing for the future. Each left a legacy, from the founding of the School and the introduction of the case method to enhancements to the residential campus and the launch of new educational programs. Nitin Nohria, the 10th Dean, who served for more than 10 years, continued this trend. Harvard Business School Online, the Harvard Innovation Labs, the field method, and new MS/MBA program offerings, all created during his tenure, have reshaped the School and strengthened its role in the University. Furthermore, by building the pipeline of faculty, launching new global research offices and centers, increasing financial aid to attract students from diverse backgrounds, fostering One Harvard initiatives, and supporting work to advance racial equity and increase diversity and inclusion, Nohria strengthened core aspects of the HBS experience. The impact of these achievements on the School and on society at large will be felt for many years to come.

To show appreciation for his leadership, alumni and friends joined together to contribute $117 million to the School in his name. With characteristic humility and honoring a process set by his predecessor, Dean Jay Light, Nohria stressed the importance of allocating these funds to advance the future priorities of his successor, Dean Srikant Datar.

Some 230 donors made gifts, ranging from $10 to $10 million, that will honor Nohria by supporting:

• the HBS Fund;
• the Nitin Nohria Endowment for Business and Society, which in addition to enabling innovative research will establish a professorship named for Nohria;
• the priorities from his deanship, including innovation in the School’s educational programs, intellectual ambition for widespread impact, internationalization for global understanding, inclusion to enhance culture and community, and integration with Harvard University.

“Alumni and close friends of the School were extremely insightful and engaged throughout my time as Dean,” said Nohria after stepping down. “They truly are the measure of the School, and I am deeply grateful for their wisdom and their support. So much of the progress we made together during this last decade can be linked to the strength and talent of the HBS community—its alumni, friends, faculty, staff, and students. Their generosity is truly extraordinary.”

The funds raised in Nohria's honor lay the groundwork for his successor, Datar, who became the 11th Dean of HBS on January 1, 2021. “The remarkable contributions that alumni and friends have made in honor of Nitin will accelerate our ability to advance initiatives to serve society and to address the opportunities and challenges facing the world today,” Datar said.

Broad, Versatile Support

Strengthening the role business plays in society has been central to the HBS mission since its founding in 1908. With vital support from alumni, faculty members pursue innovative and practical research and course development, including through cross-disciplinary projects that bring new insights to complex issues, as exemplified by this recent work:

• “How Businesses Can Find ‘Hidden Workers’”—this December 2020 HBR article looks at barriers faced by low- and middle-skill workers, particularly those considered essential during the recent pandemic, and offers companies strategies for reaching them (coauthored by Professor of Management Practice Joseph B. Fuller, who co-leads the Project on Managing the Future of Work).
• A new case study on Moderna looks at how the company built a digital organization that leverages AI and other technologies to speed its operations, manage its processes, and ensure quality across research, testing, and manufacturing in its race to develop a vaccine for COVID-19 (coauthored by David Sarnoff Professor of Business Administration Marco Iansiti and Charles Edwin Wilson Professor of Business Administration and Dorothy and Michael Hintze Fellow Karim R. Lakhani).
• Reimagining Capitalism in a World on Fire—this recent book offers insights into the relationship between capitalism and climate change and proposes a new vision of a financial system that is in harmony with the planet and its people (written by John and Natty McArthur University Professor Rebecca M. Henderson).
• We the Possibility: Harnessing Public Entrepreneurship to Solve Our Most Urgent Problems, a new book published by Harvard Business Review Press, proposes that entrepreneurial thinking will be the key to government’s ability to solve big problems (written by Professor of Management Practice and Richard L. Menschel Faculty Fellow Mitchell B. Weiss).
• Scaling Minority Businesses, a new MBA elective field course, pairs students with Black-owned businesses in the Boston area. The course is cotaught by Senior Lecturers Archie L. Jones, Jeffrey J. Bussgang, and Henry W. McGee, and uses case discussions, presentations from subject experts, and hands-on consulting to support the local enterprises and help students gain an understanding of the barriers facing Black businesses.

The research conducted by HBS faculty members, including the course materials they develop, has a wide reach and significant impact. Cases are taught to hundreds of MBA students and thousands of executives at the School each year as well as in business education programs worldwide. Additionally, the School regularly convenes groups of leaders, including but not limited to its alumni, to build and deepen learning, spur action, and foster solutions to today’s—and tomorrow’s—challenges.

“The best business leaders are committed to making a sustainable positive impact on society by ensuring that business is a force for good,” observes John B. Hess (MBA 1977), who chaired the School’s $1.4 billion capital campaign, which concluded in 2018. “Enabling important research and ensuring support to preserve HBS’s core and expand our frontiers through innovation in Nitin’s honor is a fitting tribute to his remarkable legacy.”

Finally, just as flexible funding was key to Nohria’s success leading the School, it will be essential to Datar’s ability to innovate and advance the HBS mission during his deanship. The majority of donors who honored Nohria directed their support to the HBS Fund, which enables the School’s leadership to apply immediate support where it is most needed. By providing seed capital, donors make it possible for the School to invest in programs and activities that have deep and lasting impact. For his part, Datar is enthusiastic about the future. “I am so grateful for Nitin's work to advance the School and its mission, and excited by the opportunities I see ahead,” he said.

Donors by Gift Purpose

As of March 2021

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