Harvard Hires Penn Fundraising Chief James Husson to Lead Development, Alumni Relations

Harvard President Alan M. Garber ’76 named James J. Husson as the next Vice President for Alumni Affairs and Development, the University announced Wednesday.

Husson currently leads development at the University of Pennsylvania and will take over at Harvard on April 1. He will succeed Brian K. Lee, who announced last July that he would step down after serving as vice president since 2018. While Lee originally planned to depart in December, he will remain in the role through the end of March.

As vice president, Husson will act as the University’s chief fundraiser, overseeing the Harvard Alumni Association as well as development offices for the University and the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. The move will be a return to Harvard for Husson, who began his higher education fundraising career at the University in 1989 and served as the director of major gifts during the 1990s capital campaign that raised $2.6 billion, a record at the time.

He also led fundraising at Brown University and Boston College before accepting his current position as Penn’s vice president for development in 2022.

In April, Husson will take over a department that has spent more than a year grappling with reluctance from donors who drew back over Harvard’s response to Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel and a controversial student group statement.

Some of Harvard’s largest donors, including billionaire hedge fund manager Kenneth C. Griffin ’89 and industrialist Leonard V. Blavatnik, pulled their support over dissatisfaction with Harvard’s handling of campus protests and antisemitism allegations.

Garber and Lee have spent the past year attempting to rebuild trust with angry donors and politicians who have threatened severe financial penalties against the University.

Last April, Garber privately acknowledged a significant decline in donations in meetings with alumni in London and Miami. And ahead of the 2024 financial report that revealed a 14 percent drop in donations, Garber also expressed public disappointment with the downturn in an interview with The Crimson.

While Garber responds to new threats from the Trump administration, the task of reengaging alienated donors — and recouping some of the $150 million in lost 2024 donations — will now fall to Husson.

In a statement to Harvard affiliates Wednesday, Garber praised Husson’s “curiosity and humility, as well as his belief in universities as a force for social good.”

“These qualities and others will serve him well as he works to strengthen the University at a critical moment for all of American higher education,” Garber added.

—Staff writer Saketh Sundar can be reached at saketh.sundar@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @saketh_sundar.