Harvard Business School Receives $15 Million for Global Research From Gayle and Robert Greenhill
Gift will strengthen the tradition of international research and course development at HBS
BOSTON -- Gayle and Robert F. Greenhill (MBA Class of 1962) have donated $15 million to Harvard Business School (HBS) to establish the Gayle and Robert F. Greenhill Family Endowment for Global Research. The gift -- part of the School's $500 million capital campaign -- will provide permanent funding to support international research and course development activities.
"Harvard Business School has a long history of global outreach and engagement," said Dean Kim B. Clark. "This generous gift, from a family with deep ties to the School, ensures our ability to strengthen and expand our work with companies, governments, non-profit organizations, and other universities around the world."
The Greenhill Family Endowment will support a diverse range of activities on the campus and around the world, including research, outreach to international business leaders and academics, executive programs, research symposia, and the development of cases and other course materials. To honor the Greenhill family's support of the School's international efforts, Humphrey House on the HBS campus will be rededicated as Greenhill House.
"The Greenhills' gift underscores the importance of the School's efforts to examine the world economy at close range and in a wide variety of contexts - projects we often undertake in cooperation with other academics and practitioners in the regions we are studying," said Professor John A. Quelch, senior associate dean for international development at HBS.
The HBS community reflects the School's global focus. At present, one-third of the students in the MBA Program are international, representing 75 countries; nearly 40 percent of participants in HBS executive development programs come from outside of North America; and the School's alumni live in 140 countries. In addition, more than 20 percent of HBS faculty are from outside the United States. Over half of the School's 200 faculty currently conduct research overseas, and at any given time, HBS researchers are active in more than 40 countries. As a result, about 30 percent of the approximately 350 new HBS cases produced each year deal with organizations and issues outside the United States.
In 1996, Dean Clark launched the Global Initiative to facilitate faculty research in key regions of the world. Under the auspices of this effort, the School has established research centers in Latin America, Europe, and the Asia-Pacific to build closer ties with companies, academic institutions, alumni, and other resources. Plans call for a new research center to be opened in India next year.
HBS has helped numerous schools in Europe, Latin America, and Asia develop case-teaching and case-writing programs. Among its current activities is the Colloquium for Participant-Centered Learning (CPCL) for faculty and deans from business schools in Latin America, China, Africa, and Eastern and Central Europe.
Currently the chairman and chief executive officer of Greenhill & Co., LLC, Mr. Greenhill has had a distinguished career in investment banking. After receiving his AB from Yale in 1958, he spent two years on active duty with the U.S. Navy, with a final rank of Lieutenant Junior Grade (USNR). He then enrolled at HBS, graduating in the top 5 percent of the class as a Baker Scholar in 1962.
Upon joining Morgan Stanley, he served in a number of leadership roles during his thirty years with that firm, including Director of Mergers and Acquisitions, Director of the Investment Banking Division, Vice Chairman, and President. He left Morgan Stanley in 1993 and moved to Smith Barney, Inc. as chairman and CEO. In 1996, he founded Greenhill & Co., an independent global investment banking firm. He is currently a trustee of the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research.
A Vassar alumna, Mrs. Gayle Greenhill is chairman of the board of New York City's International Center of Photography, a museum, school, and center for photographers and photography. She is an avid collector of photography and a devoted supporter of the Photography Department at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.
The Greenhill family has had a long association with HBS and the family's three children and their spouses are graduates of the School: Sarah Greenhill Wildasin and James Wildasin (both MBA 1989), Robert Jr. and Sarah Bodman Greenhill (both MBA 1995), and Mary Greenhill Cagliero and Massimiliano Cagliero (both MBA 1997).
In 1987, the Greenhills established the HBS Greenhill Award, an annual award given by the Dean to recognize outstanding members of the HBS community who are making significant contributions to the School. Mr. Greenhill served as a member of the School's Visiting Committee for many years.
Founded in 1908 as part of Harvard University, Harvard Business School (www.hbs.edu) is located in Boston and offers full-time programs leading to the MBA and doctoral degrees, as well as more than 40 Executive Development programs. With a faculty of more than 200 distinguished scholars, the School is dedicated to educating leaders who make a difference in the world. Its core focus is to shape the practice of business, build enduring knowledge, and effectively communicate important ideas.