Harvard Business School on Thursday announced it received a $50 million donation from India’s diversified conglomerate Tata Group, the largest gift the school received from an international donor in its 102-year history.
The funds will be used to build a new academic and residential building on the school’s campus in Boston. Harvard said it hopes 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–one of three leadership programs offered by the school’s executive education program–in 1975.
Harvard Business School Dean Nitin Nohria touted the “historic gift.” Indian-born Nohria became the school’s 10th dean earlier this year. He has said his focus will be on business ethics, a cause he has long championed, particularly during the financial crisis.
Tata Group, founded in 1868, comprises about 98 companies in businesses such as steel, automobiles, telecommunications, tea and information technology. The conglomerate generates a majority of its annual revenue from outside India.