Radcliffe Surpasses $70 Million Capital Campaign Goal

The Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study surpassed its $70 million capital campaign fundraising goal in May 2017, according to Director of External Relations Julia H. Cavanaugh.

The campaign garnered contributions from donors representing every Harvard school and every Harvard and Radcliffe class from 1933 to the present, Cavanaugh said. She said she attributes Radcliffe’s success in the campaign to Dean Lizabeth Cohen’s vision, the leadership of the campaign co-chairs Susan S. Wallach ’68 and Sidney R. Knafel ’52, and the efforts of alumni volunteers.

“We have received over 22,000 gifts from more than 6,800 donor households, including 1,300 first-time supporters of the Radcliffe Institute,” Cavanaugh said.

Wallach, apart from co-chairing the campaign, was also a major contributor, donating $10 million with her husband, Kenneth L. Wallach ’68.

“I know that a gift to Radcliffe is a gift to the scholars, artists, students, and public intellectuals who value the Institute as a unique space within Harvard—a school dedicated to creating and sharing transformative ideas across disciplines,” Wallach said in a statement.

Though Cavanaugh said Radcliffe’s capital campaign continues to experience success and plans to build on this momentum, she said the campaign has also had to overcome unique challenges.

“Unlike all other schools at Harvard, the Radcliffe Institute does not grant degrees to a graduating class annually, meaning our constituency does not grow organically,” Cavanaugh said. “To ensure the continued success of the Institute, we need to use the momentum of the Campaign to reach new audiences and engage old friends, many of whom may be unfamiliar with the work of today’s Radcliffe Institute.”

Cohen said she plans to use the funds raised to grow the Institute’s programs and launch new initiatives meant to strengthen the Institute and the University more broadly.

“We can help scholars tell a more inclusive history of women in America by acquiring new archival collections for the Schlesinger Library,” Cohen wrote in a statement. “We can help advance research across disciplines by funding more seminars and workshops led by Harvard faculty and Radcliffe fellows. And we can better share new ideas and research with a broad audience by expanding our public programming and improving our Institute facilities.”

Looking ahead, Cohen said she thinks that, regardless of this campaign’s success, the Institute still has unmet needs.

“There remain many opportunities for individuals, groups, or foundations to make gifts that will have a tremendous impact on the work of scholars, scientists, and artists in our fellowship program, on students and faculty at Harvard who benefit from our programs, and on the general public who flock to our lectures, conferences, and exhibitions,” Cohen said.

The capital campaign is officially set to conclude in June 2018.