Cumnock Hall

Cumnock Hall was made possible through the support of Grace Cumnock Ditman and is named in honor of Alexander Goodlet Cumnock and Arthur J. Cumnock, (Harvard College 1891).

Cumnock Hall was built in 1974 as classroom and office space during the tenure of Dean Lawrence E. Fouraker. The modern, three-story, brick structure was designed by Earl Flansburgh & Associates and originally housed five flexible classrooms, HBS Health Services, squash courts, and a lounge. In 1989, the courts were removed, and Cumnock was renovated to create the Emeriti Faculty Center, which provides well-appointed offices and support services for HBS emeriti professors. The Center offers a wide array of amenities to retired emeriti faculty at HBS. These features include office space, equipment use, archival document storage, conference room use, publications for reference use, staff assistance, and event space.

Ditman Lounge is a distinctive feature of the facility’s third floor. The common room is gracefully furnished with art and other items from the estate of Grace Cumnock Ditman, whose generous bequest funded the building’s construction. The Senior Faculty Center also features the Donaldson Room.

About the Name

Born in Glasgow, Scotland, Alexander Cumnock came to the United States with his family in 1846 and began his career in the textile industry as a young man. By the turn of the century, he was a well-known figure in New England fabric manufacturing and founder of the Lowell Textile School—the first school in Massachusetts where the theory and technique of textile manufacturing was taught. He acquired the Appleton mill with a group of family and friends and headed the company until his death, when his son Arthur took over management of the business. Grace Cumnock Ditman died in 1969 at the age of 93.