Harvard University has announced a $300 million gift to the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) from alumnus Kenneth C. Griffin (’89), founder and CEO of Citadel.

The unrestricted gift caps Griffin’s four decades of support to Harvard totaling more than $500 million—including a $150 million gift in 2014—and is the second largest in the history of the university, after the $350 million commitment made by Hansjörg Wyss in 2022. In recognition of the gift, the university’s Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (GSAS) will be renamed after Griffin. According to the university, the gift will provide essential resources to support long-term excellence in teaching and research within and across the liberal arts and sciences disciplines that make up FAS—the largest of the 10 faculties that constitute the university—including undergraduate and graduate programs in 40 academic departments and more than 30 academic centers. Established in 1872 as a part of FAS, GSAS currently offers degrees in more than 57 departments and programs.

Griffin’s 2014 gift remains the largest single donation in support of undergraduate financial aid at Harvard College, having helped 600 undergraduates to date. In addition, the college has leveraged the gift to raise an additional $600 million for financial aid. Griffin previously made gifts to the Harvard Graduate School of Education, Harvard Law School, and Harvard Business School; funded stem cell research at the university; established a scholarship fund in honor of his grandfather; and endowed a professorship in economics in honor of economist Martin Feldstein, who died in 2019.

“As we celebrate our sesquicentennial this year, we are looking ahead to our next 150 years and imagining what our current students will achieve,” said Emma Dench, dean of the Harvard Kenneth C. Griffin Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. “This investment in the Faculty of the Arts and Sciences cannot help but support our students as they engage in the inquiry and innovation that will ultimately lead to positive impact on the world.”

“Harvard’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences is committed to advancing ideas that will shape humanity’s future, while providing important insight into our past,” said Griffin. “I am excited to support the impactful work of this great institution.”

(Photo credit: (Photo credit: Wikimedia/Citadel/Paul Elledge)