David Rockefeller pledges 100 million dollars to Harvard

0 Comments | AFP, April, 2008

NEW YORK (AFP) — Retired banker and philanthropist David Rockefeller has pledged 100 million dollars to Harvard University, the largest gift from an alumnus in the school's history, Harvard announced Friday.

Rockefeller, a member of the Harvard class of 1936 and scion of the wealthy family that started Standard Oil, made the pledge "to increase learning opportunities dramatically for Harvard undergraduates through international experiences and participation in the arts," a university statement said.

"Harvard opened my eyes and my mind to the world," Rockefeller said.

"It was because of Harvard's language requirement that I spent the summer of 1933 in Germany and saw firsthand the ominous rise of fascism. And it was at Harvard that I first studied art...