HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL DEDICATES CENTENNIAL BELL

Replica Centennial Bell
Photo: Neal Hamberg

BOSTON - Harvard Business School (HBS) is ready to ring in the celebration of its Centennial. At a special ceremony today for students, faculty, and staff, HBS formally dedicated the new "Centennial Bell" that was installed in the cupola of Baker Library in August.

The Centennial Bell replaces one of eighteen bells saved in 1930 from the religious persecution of Stalinist Russia by American businessman and diplomat Charles Crane and donated to Harvard University more than 75 years ago. The historic bell that was given to Harvard Business School has been returned to Russia.

The seventeen other bells in the set were hung in Lowell House, a Harvard undergraduate dormitory. They will be removed next summer and sent back to Russia's St. Danilov Monastery in an exchange that will restore the originals to what is considered the spiritual home of Russian Orthodoxy.

Today's ceremony on the north side of Baker Library included remarks by HBS Dean Jay Light; Harvard University Professor Diana Eck, master of Lowell House; and Konstantin Kuzovkov, a second-year student in the School's MBA program. After the unveiling of a replica bell that will be on permanent display in front of Baker Library, the Centennial Bell was officially rung for the first time from atop the Business School's most famous building. A reception for the community followed.

"We are all fortunate to be here at this historic moment in the life of the School," said Dean Light. "HBS is an important place, and the work of the School is important -- never more so in the world today. In a few minutes we'll hear the bell toll for the first time. Let it be a reminder of our shared mission, of our connection to one another as members of this remarkable community, of our past, and of our future."

Music for the event was provided by pianist Thomas Stumpf, who played a variety of pieces by Russian composers, including selections from "Pictures at an Exhibition" by Modest Mussorgsky (1839-1881).

This ceremony will be the first in a series of special events, conferences, colloquia, and celebrations that will mark the 100th anniversary of Harvard Business School's founding in 1908.

The new bell was cast by the Vera forge in the Voronezh region of southwestern Russia and was specifically crafted to mark the School's Centennial. It bears the inscription "Harvard Business School, 1908-2008," and the words "Leadership-Excellence-Integrity," concepts at the core of the School's mission of educating leaders who make a difference in the world.

Listen to a podcast about the August ceremony here: http://stream.hbs.edu/downloads/centennial_bell.mp3