Dartmouth College Receives Historic $52.1 Million Gift From Anonymous Donor

Dartmouth College has announced its Tuck School of Business has received the largest gift commitment in the business school’s history—a $52.1 million pledge from an anonymous donor.

The gift will be used to endow a recurring summit involving researchers, students and global leaders from both the private and public sectors, who will come together to identify actions and policies that will improve the health, wealth, and sustainability of people and the planet in the 21st century.

“This historic gift will have an enduring and far-reaching impact, not only at Tuck and Dartmouth, but in organizations and communities throughout the world,” said Dean Matthew J. Slaughter in the school’s news release. “The wickedest challenges facing our world need new solutions informed by new ways of thinking. This summit will be a powerful and lasting demonstration of our school’s mission to prepare wise, decisive leaders who better the world through business.”

According to Dartmouth, the summit will focus on how intersecting influences such as public policy, health care, climate change, politics, and finance can be used to address a number of global challenges. Planning for the inaugural summit is already underway, with further details expected to be announced in the new academic year.

Citing the donor’s belief in the power and influence of Dartmouth scholarship, Punam Keller, the Charles Henry Jones Third Century Professor of Management and faculty director of the Tuck Center for Business, Government and Society, said, “The urgency of these challenges is apparent, and The Dartmouth Summit for Health, Wealth, and Sustainability has tremendous potential to incubate creative and much-needed solutions.” Keller helped secure the record gift while serving as Associate Dean for Advancement and Tuck-Dartmouth Programs.

A university-wide faculty council will help plan and develop the initiative that’s being called the Dartmouth Summit on Health, Wealth, and Sustainability. An emphasis will be placed on interdisciplinary research, with participation coming from Dartmouth researchers in the Geisel School of Medicine, the Thayer School of Engineering, the Guarini Schools of Graduate and Advanced Studies, the Arthur L. Irving Institute for Energy and Society, the Rockefeller Center for Public Policy, and the John Sloan Dickey Center for International Understanding.

“Complex challenges can only be solved by harnessing the full dynamism and creativity present throughout, and beyond, our campus community,” noted Dartmouth President Philip J. Hanlon. “This summit will galvanize a global network of accomplished scholars and leaders committed to building a better world.”

With this $52.1 million gift, the Tuck School of Business has raised over $317 million in The Tuck Difference fund-raising campaign it announced in 2018 with a goal of $250 million.