HSPH Announces Capital Campaign Goal of $450 Million

Harvard School of Public Health has set a goal of $450 million for its subset of the University’s capital campaign, HSPH campaign co-chair Jonathan S. Lavine announced at a gala at Revere Hotel Boston Common on Thursday evening.

Lavine also told the gathered crowd of donors and University affiliates that the campaign has raised $167 million to date, a sum that includes 25 donations of $1 million or more.

Lavine said that campaign funds would support HSPH’s efforts to hire new professors, offer better financial aid, and develop new facilities, among other improvements.

“We will transform the Harvard School of Public Health, but more importantly, equip the school for even greater impact over the next 100 years,” Lavine said at the conclusion of his remarks. “We will not only reach our financial goal but also achieve the broader ambitions of Dean [Julio] Frenk for the Harvard School of Public Health.”

The announcement comes less than two days before the expected unveiling of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences’ campaign target, anticipated to be announced by FAS Dean Michael D. Smith in Sanders Theatre Saturday morning.

Both campaigns are under the umbrella of the University’s $6.5 billion capital campaign, the most ambitious in the history of higher education. The University announced its fundraising target during the launch of the public phase of its campaign last month, ending a two-year quiet phase during which it raised $2.8 billion in donations and pledges.

Lavine’s announcement came just hours after HSPH honored Bill and Chelsea Clinton as part of the school’s Centennial Celebration, two days of programming recognizing the School’s 100th anniversary.

Thursday night’s gala event featured speeches from prominent speakers who highlighted the four global health threats that the school hopes to use its campaign funds to address—poverty and humanitarian crises, old and new pandemics, harmful physical and social environments, and failing health systems. University President Drew G. Faust also delivered brief remarks.

On the occasion of HSPH’s 100th anniversary, Frenk emphasized the school’s priority of helping millions around the globe celebrate more birthdays in good health. He also highlighted the successes of the institution over the past century while applauding the continued commitment to excellence.

“Each generation has one overriding response: to safeguard the legacy it has been handed from previous generations and to pass it on to the next,” Frenk said. “Each of you has faced that defining choice between caring and indifference. You have made the right choice; you have chosen to care.”

Frenk stressed that the campaign would equip the University to continue the positive trajectory of the last 100 years, ensuring success for the next century.

“You’ve chosen Harvard because it’s the best place to invest in research and education,” Frenk said. “This is the chain of choice that brings you here now, and this is the chain of choice that will improve health for everyone, everywhere.”

—Staff writer Fatima N. Mirza can be reached at fatima.mirza@thecrimson.com. Follow her on Twitter @fatimanmirza.