Radcliffe Raises $42 Million In Capital Campaign

Harvard’s Radcliffe Institute of Advanced Study has drawn in $42 million in gifts and pledges towards its capital campaign goal of $70 million, according to Radcliffe spokesperson Alison Franklin.

This figure, reaching the 60 percent threshold of the Institute’s fundraising target, comes from more than 6,000 contributing households. When the Radcliffe Institute publicly launched its fundraising efforts in October, $26 million had already been raised.

Several notable gifts have contributed to the progress of the campaign so far, including the Johnson-Kulukundis family’s $10 million gift toward Radcliffe and the arts at Harvard in September 2014. Earlier, long-time University donor and co-chair of the Radcliffe campaign Sidney R. Knafel created a $10.5 million fund in 2013 in support of Radcliffe’s interdisciplinary programming and public engagement.

"The success of The Radcliffe Campaign thus far is testament to the broad support we enjoy, including Radcliffe College alumnae, Harvard alumni, Institute fellows, student researchers, and even members of the general public who attend our events," Dean Lizabeth Cohen wrote in an emailed statement.  "We're proud not only of the progress of the campaign, but also of the range of supporters who recognize what the Radcliffe Institute contributes to intellectual life at the University and beyond."

The Radcliffe Institute was founded in 1999, following the merger of the University and Radcliffe College. The Institute hosts an annual fellowship program for artists and scholars, and also funds the work of researchers both within and outside of Harvard.

The money fundraised in the capital campaign will contribute to further growth among the Institute’s core programs like the Fellows Program, Franklin said. Other focuses of the capital campaign include funding undergraduate-fellow collaborative research under Radcliffe Research Partners, supporting the Schlesinger Library’s work with women’s history in America and with the digitization of crucial collections, and increasing funding for interdisciplinary connections with scholars across academic fields within the Academic Ventures program.

Radcliffe’s target for the campaign makes up a little more than one percent of the University-wide $6.5 billion campaign, only exceeding the goals of the Dental School and the Divinity School at $8 million and $50 million, respectively. As of June 2014, the Business School raised at least $721 million, more than 70 percent of its $1 billion goal, and the Kennedy School recently passed the three-quarters mark of its $500 million goal.

—Staff writer Gabrielle M. Williams can be reached at gabrielle.williams@thecrimson.com. Follow her on Twitter @GabWilliams23.