Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government has announced a $15 million gift from Sharmin and Bijan Mossavar-Rahmani to endow the work at the school's Center for Business and Government.

The gift will permit the center to expand significantly its long-term capacity for research, scholarship, and teaching on some of society's most challenging problems at the intersection of business and government. In recognition of the gift, one of the largest in the Kennedy School's history, the center will be renamed for the Mossavar-Rahmanis.

"The nexus between business and government has never been more central to the public interest," said Kennedy School dean David Ellwood. "A productive private sector is essential for a modern society. Effective leadership, incentives, and regulation can further public desires for transparency, corporate social responsibility, affordable energy, or environmental protection. And increasingly collaborative relationships between business and government are leading to more effective services and ideas in the public sphere."

A 1982 graduate of the Kennedy School, Bijan Mossavar-Rahmani is a leading authority on global energy markets, and has published extensively on the subject. She is also chairman of Mondoil Enterprises, a privately held company engaged in international oil and gas exploration and production, with a focus on West Africa.