Barker Center Benefactor, Top Overseer Dies at 87

Robert R. Barker ’36, a Wall Street executive who served two terms as president of the Board of Overseers and whose name graces the Barker Center for the Humanities, died Nov. 8 at a hospice in Stamford, Conn. He was 87.

“He was an immensely curious, open and compassionate person,” said his daughter, Margaret B. Clark ’73. “He believed very deeply in the stimulus Harvard offers the world in its students and its faculty.”

Harvard was the object of Barker’s curiosity and concern for much of his lifetime. Together with his wife Elizabeth, Barker funded more than half of the $25 million Barker Center project. He served the University as an officer and prominent fundraiser.

“Bob Barker was a gentle, wise and generous friend,” former Dean of the Faculty Jeremy R. Knowles wrote in an e-mail. “He shared the concern to create an academic community, and with quiet generosity made it possible for us to plan the splendid center that now bears his name.”

Former Harvard President Neil L. Rudenstine remembered his first meeting with Barker, saying, “I’ve rarely met anyone who had a longer list of spontaneous questions of any and all aspects of the University and particularly the humanities.”

Barker served as an overseer for six years and was president of the board for two. He was also a director of the Harvard Management Company and a leading member of the Committee on University Resources.

He raised money tirelessly—for the Harvard College Fund, the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, the University Arts Museums and various academic departments.

“He felt that he didn’t just go to Harvard for four years—he went for life,” said Sidney R. Knafel ’52, who served with Barker on a gifts committee in New York. “And, he worked just as hard at it after he left as he did when he was a student.”

Barker was born in Brookline and raised in Argentina and Switzerland. He graduated from the College magna cum laude in 1936.

He cherished his days as a student, writing later that it was one of his greatest experiences. But he foresaw improvements in store for the University—several of which he would implement himself.

“Good as it was, however, the prospect today seems to me even more exciting,” he wrote in the early 1940s, “and I have to confess to a twinge of envy as I contemplate the ‘goodies’ that lie ahead for...the next generation.”

Barker was a Wall Street executive and an expert on educational endowments. He worked in the statistical and investment departments of J. P. Morgan in New York and later became a partner with William A. M. Burden & Co.

Barker went on to found Barker Lee and Co., a leading investment bank in the ’80s and ’90s, and served as its president from its founding in 1968 to 2000.

In his personal life, Barker was also an ardent salmon fisher, skier and tennis player, said his son, James R. Barker ’65.

Barker’s wife Elizabeth died in 1997. In addition to James R. Barker and Margaret B. Clark, he is survived by his second wife, Frances Salant Barker; son James W. B. Barker ’69; daughter Ann S. Barker; a sister, Cecily B. Finley; a brother, Hugh Barker; and five grandchildren.

A private event remembering his life will be held at a later date.