Tata Group to Fund Executive Education Building at Harvard
10/15/2010 - Harvard Business School has received a gift of $50 million from Tata Companies, the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust, and the Tata Education and Development Trust—philanthropic entities of Tata Group. The gift will fund a new academic and residential building on campus for participants in the school's Executive Education programs.
Harvard Business School (HBS) has received a gift of $50 million from Tata Companies, the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust, and the Tata Education and Development Trust—philanthropic entities of India's Tata Group.
The gift—the largest from an international donor in the School's 102-year history, according to Harvard—will fund a new academic and residential building on the HBS campus in Boston for participants in the school's Executive Education programs. The School plans to break ground for the building, which will be named Tata Hall, next spring.
Ratan Tata, the Chairman of Tata Sons Ltd. since 1991, attended the School's Advanced Management Program in 1975. He received the School's highest honor, the Alumni Achievement Award, in 1995.
"The Harvard Business School is the preeminent place to be exposed to the world's best thinking on management and leadership, and we are pleased that this gift will support the School's educational mission to mold the next generation of global business leaders," said Mr. Tata.
President Drew Gilpin Faust added: "Ratan Tata knows firsthand the transformative educational opportunities offered through Harvard Business School's Executive Education programs. Thanks to this generous gift, HBS will be able to expand its already robust offerings in Executive Education, deepening ties with leaders across the country and around the globe."
"This is an historic gift from a renowned organization revered for its significant economic, civic, and philanthropic impact,” said Harvard Business School Dean Nitin Nohria. “The Tata Group is widely respected for integrity and innovation, not just in India—where it produced both the first indigenous car and the $2,000 Tata Nano automobile—but in a variety of business lines across several continents, from cars to hotels and from tea to information technology."
Founded in 1908 as part of Harvard University, Harvard Business School is located on a 40-acre campus in Boston. Its faculty of more than 200 offers full-time programs leading to the MBA and doctoral degrees, as well as more than 75 open enrollment Executive Education programs and more than 60 custom programs. In 1945, Harvard Business School launched the Advanced Management Program, the world's first Executive Education program. Today, more than 9000 business leaders from around the world enroll in Executive Education programs at HBS as well as in off-campus locations each year.
The Tata Group operates in seven business sectors: communications and information technology, engineering, materials, services, energy, consumer products, and chemicals. The total revenue of Tata companies was $67.4 billion (around Rs 319,534 crore) in 2009-10, with 57% of this coming from business outside India. Tata companies employ around 395,000 people worldwide. There are 28 publicly listed Tata enterprises, and they have a combined market capitalization of some $80 billion and a shareholder base of 3.5 million. The major Tata companies are Tata Steel, Tata Motors, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Tata Power, Tata Chemicals, Tata Global Beverages, Indian Hotels, Titan Industries, and Tata Communications.
