Houghton Gift an Auspicious Start

Thanks to Maisie K. Houghton '62 and James R. Houghton '58, Harvard will have a new way to promote the presence of successful women scholars and professionals on campus.

The Houghtons have donated $1.25 million to the Faculty of Arts of Sciences to establish an endowment fund, the interest from which will be used to bring women scholars to campus and allow undergraduates to interact on a personal level with women in fields ranging from academia to journalism to medicine.

Among the activities sponsored by the fund will be luncheons and small discussions with female academics, and the money may also be used to launch a conference with women professionals.

Though we would like to see the College do more for women on this campus, we believe that this project is a move in the right direction, and we have high hopes that it will make an impact on campus.

As Barbara J. Grosz, Gordon McKay professor of Computer Science, pointed out, "Given the small number of women on the Faculty, this is a great way for students to see the opportunities that lie ahead for them and the kinds of things they can do with their lives."

The Houghton endowment is a good step in the ongoing process to make Harvard a more gender-equitable environment.

We greatly appreciate the Houghtons' generosity and encourage donors and the University alike to continue to launch efforts in this area of concern.