Alumni from classes spanning 40 years have stepped forward to support Harvard’s vision for a new era of economics education and research. Gifts from Joseph T. Tsai ’98; Jeffrey T. Tsai ’01, S.M. ’04; Jason T. Tsai ’05; Alexander Slusky ’89, M.B.A. ’92, and Danna Slusky; and Don Smith ’66 will bolster the department’s future home, Pritzker Hall, and establish two new professorships.
“The collective generosity of these alumni is powering a transformative vision for the future of economics research at Harvard, shaping the next generation of scholars and policymakers,” said Hopi Hoekstra, Edgerley Family Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. “We are deeply grateful for their support, which is advancing the creation of an innovative new building and endowed professorships, firmly establishing the critical intellectual role Harvard’s economics program will play in developing the future of the field.”
For more than 100 years, the Economics Department in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences has produced scholarship and policy ideas aimed at the world’s most pressing problems, including recessions, gender and racial inequality, climate change, and global poverty. Revered for its top undergraduate and graduate programs, the department educates more than 500 undergraduate concentrators and nearly 200 graduate students every year. Economics faculty have earned countless accolades including multiple MacArthur Awards, Clark Medals, and Nobel Prizes, including the Nobel awarded in 2023 to Claudia Goldin, Lee and Ezpeleta Professor of Arts and Sciences and Henry Lee Professor of Economics.
New spaces for new kinds of work
The new support will help to build the future home for the Economics Department, which began with an impactful gift from Penny Pritzker ’81 and Bryan Traubert. Pritzker Hall will bring research and teaching together under one roof, in a space designed for interaction and collaboration.
“Our hope is that the new building will be a machine for interactions that will connect students and faculty and generate ideas that change the world,” says Ed Glaeser, Fred and Eleanor Glimp Professor of Economics. “Pritzker Hall has been designed to pull in hopeful undergraduates — to make economics as exciting and inclusive as possible — to educate them to lead and do cutting-edge research that will inform policymaking everywhere. The spaces are both beautiful and functional, designed so that knowledge will flow freely and that the ‘aha’ moments that have happened in the Harvard Economics Department will continue for decades.”
The three Tsai brothers made their gift to name the event and teaching space in honor of their father, Hong-Tu Tsai, chairman of Cathay Financial Holdings. The Tsai Family Event Area and Terrace will be a high-profile venue for convening faculty, visiting scholars, community members, and civic and world leaders for scholarly and public audiences.
“We wanted to be part of Harvard’s new vision for economics,” said Joe Tsai. Members of the Tsai family have been avid supporters of Havard College for decades, including through a notable gift to the Center for Government and International Studies in 1996 and the named Tsai Auditorium. “We were inspired by the approach being taken to the development of Pritzker Hall, which will draw scholars together in a highly interactive space and nourish the intellectual immersion at the foundation of the Harvard undergraduate experience. Our father helped make Harvard possible for us, and we’d like to help others have the same transformational opportunities that we did.”
Investing in talent and fresh perspectives
Two separate gifts, one from the Slusky family and another from Smith, will support new professorships in important fields of study, ensuring the department can meet the needs of a rapidly evolving research landscape. The Slusky Family Professorship of Economics and Markets Fund will be awarded to an eminent scholar of economics who studies real-world applications.
“Economics faculty gave me a great foundation of knowledge that I’ve benefited from ever since,” says Alexander Slusky, reflecting on his opportunity to attend Harvard six years after emigrating from the former Soviet Union. He established the professorship in part due to the mentoring he received as an undergraduate by department luminaries including N. Gregory Mankiw, Martin Feldstein, and Richard Caves.
“The Harvard Economics Department is a critical part of educating future leaders of America,” said Slusky, who is founding partner of Vector Capital. “I want to help it grow this community.”
Smith also feels deep gratitude for his ties to the department and the mentoring he received from faculty member John Kenneth Galbraith. Smith has been passionate about environmental economics ever since his days as a Harvard student and as a longtime entrepreneur focused on developing clean energy. His gift will establish the Donald M. Smith Professorship Fund, to be awarded to a pioneering scholar who works in climate change, natural resources, or energy economics.
“I wanted to help Harvard find the best scholar in environmental economics,” said Smith, CEO and chief technology officer for EnviroBeef, a company dedicated to providing environmentally friendly beef. “It’s so wonderful for me very late in my professional life to be doing something that’s meaningful to Harvard.”
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