Major Harvard Donor Faces Charges

As the evidence mounts against prominent Harvard donor A. Alfred Taubman, on trial for price-fixing as chair and director of Sotheby’s auction house, the University must decide what impact the case will have on the Harvard institution named after him, the Taubman Center for State and Local Government at the Kennedy School of Government.

Taubman, who in 1988 gave $15 million to fund the center, is currently on trial for coordinating efforts with Christie’s auction house to establish higher prices and share confidential client information. He has pleaded not guilty.

Taubman Center Director Alan Altshuler declined to comment on the center’s opinion regarding the trial, and would not say whether or not a potential conviction would lead to efforts to distance the center from the Taubman name.

Taubman currently serves as the chair of the center’s advisory board.

In Harvard’s history, there is no precedent for removing philanthropists’ names from buildings.

Andrew K. Tiedemann, spokesperson for the University’s Development Office, said it is premature to speculate about the action the University would take if Taubman were convicted.

And Harvard may not be able to distance itself from Taubman in any case—most gifts received by Harvard have binding legal contracts.

“Legally [the center] may not have many options,” Tiedemann said.

Four years before Taubman funded Harvard’s center, he helped found the Taubman Center for Public Policy and American Institutions at Brown University with a $2 million gift. Taubman has also made donations totalling tens of millions of dollars to public policy and planning programs at Michigan State and his alma mater, the University of Michigan.

The founding director of Brown’s Taubman center, Thomas J. Anton, said Taubman’s case is “unfortunate,” but will probably not affect the center.

“Taubman funded the center, but we designed it, and we are grateful for the opportunity his gift allowed us,” Anton said.

Anton also said that Taubman, despite his other interests in real estate and art, has a passion for public education.

“He was actively engaged in a hands-on way in improving public policy,” Anton said.

But as the trial continues, the two sides of Taubman become more difficult to reconcile.

The biggest development in the case occurred two days ago, when Diana D. Brooks, Taubman’s former chief executive, testified as to her involvement in the scandal, saying that Taubman solicited her help and cautioned her to remain silent.

Brooks—who agreed to testify in order to receive a reduction in a three-year sentence she received after pleading guilty to price-fixing last year—also disclosed her knowledge of a dozen private meetings between Taubman and Sir Anthony Tennant, the former chair of Christie’s.

As officials at Harvard and Brown continue to follow the trial, they hesitate to speculate about the effects it will have on their institutions.

“I would not say that we don’t care about what is going on, but we will wait and let the facts determine our options,” Tiedemann said.