Harvard University has announced a $100 million gift from alumna and former U.S. secretary of commerce Penny Pritzker ('81) in support of its Department of Economics.

The gift will support construction of a building on the Cambridge campus to house and enable the department to consolidate research, enriching undergraduate engagement and graduate education and allowing for new collaborations and partnerships. It also will help the department to better meet the needs of the evolving, increasingly diverse field by spurring innovation and opportunity as well as deepening research to address some of society's most pressing challenges including persistent economic inequality, public health emergencies, criminal justice system inequities, and the climate crisis.

Pritzker is chair and founder of the global investment firm PSP Partners and its affiliates, Pritzker Realty Group, PSP Capital, and PSP Growth. She served as secretary of commerce in the Obama administration from 2013 to 2017, as well as on the president's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness and his Economic Recovery Advisory Board.

"Today's faculty and students in the Harvard Economics Department want to create more ladders of opportunity in our society and inspire future generations of civic-oriented leadership," said Pritzker. "Those goals motivated me to support their incredible, cutting-edge work to understand the drivers of a more inclusive economy for more people across our nation and the world. I hope this gift will enable and galvanize a new era for Harvard economics, with a spectacular building that will support and accelerate collaborative approaches to teaching and research not just within the department but across the university. I am confident that the resulting discoveries from this collaborative work can contribute to a broader understanding throughout our country and the world."

"Penny Pritzker is everything we hope an alum will be — an accomplished and principled leader, a true and tireless public servant, and a loyal supporter of Harvard and of other institutions devoted to the pursuit of knowledge and the expansion of economic opportunity," said Harvard president Larry Bacow. "Many organizations have benefited from the time and resources that she and her husband, Bryan, have generously shared, and we are incredibly grateful for this extraordinary gift. It will create tremendous opportunities for our students and our faculty, as well as all those who will benefit from their work."

(Photo credit: Credit: Moshe Zusman Photography Studio)