Russian Research Center Drive Raises $5.6 Million

Harvard's Russian Research Center plans to endow three new chairs in Russian Studies following a three-year fund drive that raised a total of $5.6 million, including a $750,000 matching grant from the Andrew Mellon Foundation, Center Associate Director Marshall I. Goldman said yesterday.

The chairs will be named for Ernest E. Monrad '51, George F. Baker III '61, and Maurice and Anna Feldberg. The first two chairs were endowed by their namesakes, and the third by Sumner Feldberg '45-'47.

The center raised $2.4 million needed to earn the Mellon grant, as well as $1.7 million in endowment pledges and $800,000 for current use, Goldman said.

With their pockets deepened since the drive's end in October, the center pledged the three professorships to the University and was able to raise its fellowship budget from $35,000 per year to $250,000 per year, said Goldman.

In October, 1983, the Mellon Foundation offered matching grants for research and development in Russian, Soviet and Eastern European studies to several major American universities, said James Morris, program director at the Mellon Foundation. Other recipients included Columbia, Stanford, University of California at Berkely, and Michigan.

Goldman said the Mellon Foundation gave the center a choice of two matching offers. Under the first, the center would have received $500,000 if it could raise $1 million on its own. However, the center chose the second option, raising $2.25 million to earn a $750,000 grant.

Columbia University's prestigious Harriman Center for Soviet Studies was the only other institution to choose the larger grant. "Harvard has one of the most distinguished programs for Russian and Soviet studies in the nation," Morris said.

"We had just begun our fund drive in October of 1983 and decided to go for the larger grant. It seemed like a wonderful incentive, so we took the challenge," said Goldman. He said corporations, foundations and alumni reached by the fundraisers were generous and showed strong interest in the center's programs. "We even received support from people with absolutely no association with Harvard whatsoever," he added.