Harvard University has announced commitments totaling more than $45 million from alumni in support of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences' Asian American studies program.

The gifts from ten Asian-American alumni will endow new professorships and graduate fellowships and provide essential funding for academic research, enabling FAS to recruit preeminent scholars, convene a thriving intellectual community of faculty and graduate students to collaborate and innovate, and provide robust resources to facilitate their work.

"We are thrilled to support Harvard's long-term commitment to the field of Asian American studies and dean [Claudine] Gay's vision to advance racial justice by attracting exceptional faculty and students to Harvard," said Joseph Y. Bae ('94) and Janice Lee ('94), who led the fundraising initiative. "Harvard's leadership in this important area of scholarship is absolutely critical in helping society understand the full breadth of the Asian American experience, its many unique struggles, and the significant contributions Asian Americans have made in shaping our country."

"I am deeply grateful for these vital investments in Asian American studies, which are foundational to our goal to augment the study of ethnicity, indigeneity, and migration across many diasporic communities, and to create momentum around research on race and inequality," said Gay, who in 2020 outlined her intentions to help advance racial justice by amplifying teaching and research on racial and ethnic inequality, reactivated a cluster hire, and established the Harvard College Visiting Professorship in Ethnicity, Indigeneity, and Migration. "This is a rich, dynamic area of inquiry at the center of some of the biggest challenges we face today, and a full account of contemporary American society demands scholarship that makes visible the relevance, significance, and worth of diverse cultural backgrounds and histories."

(Photo credit: Jan Chase)