Couple Donates $30M for Science

Two long-time Harvard donors are giving a total of $30 million to fund an endowment for interdisciplinary science and technology research, the University announced yesterday.

The new Weatherhead Endowment for Collaborative Science and Technology will operate as a venture capital fund that finances innovative projects by Harvard researchers.

Donors Albert J. Weatherhead III ‘50 and his wife Celia J. Weatherhead donated $21 million in 1997 to found the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs and endowed four professorships across the University.

But Weatherhead said the projects funded by this endowment will be “for the benefit of mankind.”

“At this juncture, we’re just jumping off the bridge,” Weatherhead said yesterday. “My stomach is in my throat and I’m wondering: what’s the next step? It’s such a sweeping challenge. What ultimately will transpire will be fascinating.”

Weatherhead said the idea for this endowment was hatched during a June meeting with University President Lawrence H. Summers, who has put science and technology at the top of his agenda for University expansion into Allston.

“It’s a whole new arena—wide open space for the community,” Weatherhead said.

Summers said yesterday that the grant will enable Harvard researchers to pursue ground breaking interdisciplinary research.

“We are continually developing new and innovative ideas across the University, and the generosity of the Weatherheads will enable Harvard to support our scientists with substantial resources,” he said.

Weatherhead said he does not know how the grant application process will work or when the endowment will begin to give out grant money.

“It’s up to the university,” he said. “Larry is immediately engaged thinking about this and what the opportunities are. But we really don’t know.”

The University has said that some of the money from the endowment will be used to fund science and technology projects for Allston. In mid-December, a task force chaired by University Provost Steven E. Hyman will choose what resources to include in the new campus from among 17 different plans.

Weatherhead, who joined his family’s manufacturing empire Weatherhead Co. in 1956, is president of the Weatherhead Foundation, which provides grants for higher education.

The only position Weatherhead endows in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences is the Albert J. Weatherhead III Chair, currently held by University Professor Samuel P. Huntington.

—Staff writer May Habib can be reached at habib@fas.harvard.edu.