Harvard's School of Public Health will be renamed in honor of T.H. Chan

Harvard gets record $350 million donation

It's one of the biggest donations ever to an American university.

Harvard University just landed a record $350 million pledge from a wealthy Hong Kong family.

The pledge from the Morningside Foundation, will help support Harvard's School of Public Health, the university said Monday. It will be the largest donation that Harvard has ever received.

The Morningside Foundation is the charitable arm of the Morningside Group, a private equity and venture capital firm run by the descendants of T.H. Chan, who founded one of the largest real estate firms in Hong Kong during the 1960s.

The foundation is backed by T.H. Chan's sons, Gerald and Ronnie Chan.

"He would be very pleased with this gift today and all the good works that this gift will enable," said Gerald Chan, who earned a masters degree from the School of Public Health in the 1970s.

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Harvard said the School of Public Health will be renamed in honor of the late T.H. Chan.

The bequest will help fund research on global health threats, including pandemics such as the Ebola virus, according to Dean Julio Frenk.

The funds will also be used to study the harmful effects of air and water pollution, gun violence and tobacco, as well as programs to address humanitarian crises and substandard health systems around the world.

"The Chan family's transformational gift will help us empower current and new generations of talented and diverse students and faculty to address the complex health threats challenging the US and the world," said Frenk