Lamont's Will Grants University $5,000,000

A total of $5,000,000, probably the largest single bequest ever received from an alumnus, has been left to the University without restrictions by the late Thomas W. Lamont '96, according to details of the financier-philanthropist's will, made public yesterday.

Spokesmen of the J. P. Morgan company made known the stipulations of the will, filed for probate in New York's Rockland Country. No immediate announcement will be made of the disposition of the University's sum, Provest Buck said last night, the Corporation, in whose hands the matter rests, must meet before coming to any decisions.

Conant Statement

Informed of the will, President Conant issued the following official statement last night:

"Thomas W. Lamont's magnificent bequest is an eloquent expression of his frequently demonstrated faith in Harvard University.

"He gave generously of his time and counsel as well of his resources to assist Harvard's growth as a national institution. I can think of no Harvard man of recent years who, as a private citizen, has had such an influence on the life of his times, and certainly none who has done so much for his alma mater.

"President A. Lawrence Lowell truly said of Thomas W. Lamont, in conferring on him the LL.D. degree in 1931, that he was 'by nature a statesman, by occupation a financier, sagacious in counsel on affairs that affect all nations,' and that he found time 'for boundless service to his university."

Other Gifts

In addition to the University's bequest, Lamont willed another $5,000,000 to charitabic and educational institutions. Included among these are Phillips Exeter Academy, which receives $2,000,000; the Metropolitan Museum of Art, $1,000,000; and the New York Public Library and American Museum of Natural History, $250,000 each.

Other gifts include a $50,000 trust fund "for the benefit of the people of North Haven, Maine, in recognition of the friendship shown to me for 30 summered." Lamont also bequeathed $5,000 to both the Harvard and University Clubs of New York.