Ellison's largesse to Harvard (News:$115M)

sweetkidsmom
Sat, 04 Jun 2005 15:10:41 +0000

Ellison’s largesse to Harvard
Oracle founder to give university millions, paper says

Oracle Corp. founder Larry Ellison is on the verge of giving Harvard University as much as $115 million, one of the biggest gifts in the Ivy League college’s history, according to a published report and people familiar with the negotiations.

Ellison told The Chronicle last month that he was planning to make a “big announcement with Harvard” to create a database and journal to track improvements in world health.

“I had a big interview a long time ago where I said we measure philanthropy the wrong way,” Ellison told Chronicle reporters and editors. “We measure the input – how much someone gives. It’s better to measure how many lives we save.”

This week, the Harvard Crimson published more details about the gift, pegging the value at $115 million. The gift would help Harvard create a research center for global health monitoring and hire five professors, the student paper reported.

It could also be the largest gift in Harvard’s history. In 1995, Harvard alumnus John Loeb and his wife, Frances Lehman Loeb, pledged $70.5 million to the school, which at the time was said to be Harvard’s largest donation. But many Harvard donors give money over several years, complicating the comparison.

A college official confirmed that Ellison’s donation could be around $115 million but cautioned that Ellison and the school are still hashing out details, so the final figure could be lower.

Oracle spokesman Bob Wynne declined to comment. Harvard spokeswoman Sarah Friedell confirmed the school is talking with Ellison but declined to give details. “We are hopeful we will have something to announce with him soon,” Friedell said.

The Crimson said the negotiations involve the Ellison Medical Foundation, which Ellison founded to support research on aging. But a foundation staff member, who declined to give her name, denied Friday that the foundation is involved in the talks.