哈佛大學周一宣布有史以來收到的最大一筆捐款，由一個香港富裕家族控股的集團向公共衛生學院捐贈3.5億美元，該家族的一位成員曾獲得哈佛大學的研究生學位。
哈佛校長德魯·吉爾平·福士特(Drew Gilpin Faust)說，晨興基金會針對大學的一個相對較小部門的捐款，將會對位於波士頓的公共衛生學院產生深遠的影響，讓其得到一個穩定的財政基礎，能為學生提供更多的助學金，同時擴大幾個領域的研究項目。
該基金會由兩位兄弟、陳啟宗(Ronnie Chan)和陳樂宗(Gerald Chan)領導，他們的實業包括在香港和中國其他地方開發房地產的大公司恆隆集團，以及私募股權和風險投資公司晨興集團。公共衛生學院將改名用他們的父親陳曾熙的名字T.H. Chan命名，陳曾熙創立了恆隆。「這個學院以及整個公共衛生領域一直資源不足，」福士特說。「學院嚴重依賴來自聯邦政府的研究經費，這種經費正受到威脅。」
據《高等教育紀事》(The Chronicle of Higher Education)的
一個名單，美國高等院校收到的捐款中，只有6筆比這筆大。其中之一是伊利·和坎迪斯·布羅德(Eli and Edythe Broad)贈給布羅德研究所的4億美元，該研究所由哈佛大學和麻省理工學院聯合運行。陳氏兄弟的捐款是單獨給哈佛的最大一筆。
沿用大學的一貫做法，哈佛沒有透露捐款的時間及形式。大筆捐款往往分若干年支付，除現金外，還可以證券或不動產的形式。
哈佛的官員說，這筆捐款將用於四大領域的研究：大流行病，公共衛生學院對其的定義包括諸如肥胖和癌症等威脅；從污染到暴力的有害環境；貧困和人道主義危機；以及失敗的衛生體系。佛斯特以西非的埃博拉疫情為例，闡述對這些資源的需求，埃博拉疫情涉及上述四個領域中的三個：快速傳播的疾病，又因貧困而加劇，讓現有的醫療體系措手不及。
她說，「隨着世界變得更加全球化以及疾病的跨國界傳播，我們都意識到公共衛生是多麼重要。」
陳樂宗在20世紀70年代曾在公共衛生學院獲得放射治療物理學碩士學位，以及放射生物學博士學位，並曾在丹娜-法伯癌症研究所(Dana-Farber Cancer Institute)做研究員，發表過多篇科學論文。他一直是學院活躍的校友，為學生競賽當評判，在學院發表演講，包括在2012年的
畢業典禮上。
1986年，他與哥哥一起創建了晨興集團，他也是恆隆的董事，陳啟宗是恆隆的董事長。他們家族的慈善活動都集中在促進科學和高等教育方面，包括在公共衛生學院設立的一個講席教授基金。
最近，陳樂宗在大學主校區所在的馬薩諸塞州坎布里奇市的哈佛廣場
購置房地產引起了外界注意。
翻譯：Cindy Hao
Hong Kong Group to Give Harvard’s School of Public Health $350 Million
By RICHARD PÉREZ-PEÑA September 09, 2014Harvard University on Monday will announce the largest gift in its history, $350 million to the School of Public Health, from a group controlled by a wealthy Hong Kong family, one member of which earned graduate degrees at the university.
Drew Gilpin Faust, Harvard’s president, said the gift by the Morningside Foundation, directed to a relatively small part of the university, would have a profound effect on the School of Public Health in Boston, giving it a stable financial base and the ability to give students more financial aid while expanding programs in several fields.
The foundation is led by two brothers, Ronnie and Gerald Chan, whose businesses include the Hang Lung Group, a major developer of real estate in Hong Kong and elsewhere in China, and the Morningside Group, a private equity and venture capital firm. The School of Public Health will be renamed for their father, T. H. Chan, who founded Hang Lung.“It’s always been, as the whole field always is, under-resourced,” Dr. Faust said. “It’s overwhelmingly dependent on money from federal grants that are under threat.”
Only six larger donations have been made to an American institution of higher education, according to
a list by The Chronicle of Higher Education. Those include a $400 million gift by Eli and Edythe Broad to the Broad Institute, a joint arm of Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The Chans’ gift is the largest to Harvard alone.
In keeping with university practice, Harvard did not disclose the timing or form of the gift. Large donations are often spread over several years, and can consist of securities or real estate, in addition to cash.
Harvard officials said the gift would be used to address four broad areas: pandemics, which they define to include threats like obesity and cancer; harmful environments, ranging from pollution to violence; poverty and humanitarian crises; and failing health systems. Dr. Faust cited the Ebola outbreak in West Africa as an example of the need for such resources, hitting on three of those four areas — a rapidly spreading disease, abetted by poverty, that existing health systems cannot handle.
“We’re all realizing how important public health is as we become more global and diseases are shared across boundaries,” she said.
Gerald Chan earned a master’s degree in medical radiological physics and a doctorate in radiation biology at the School of Public Health in the 1970s, worked as a research fellow at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and published several scientific papers. He has remained an active alumnus of the school, judging student competitions and giving speeches there, including the
commencement address in 2012.
In 1986, he joined his brother in creating the Morningside Group, and he is a director of Hang Lung, where Ronnie Chan is the chairman. The family’s philanthropic efforts have focused on promoting science and higher education, including endowing a professorship at the School of Public Health.
Recently, Gerald Chan has drawn attention for his
real estate purchases in the Harvard Square area of Cambridge, Mass., near the university’s main campus.
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