Connell LP Donates $10 Million to HBS for Curriculum Development
On July 1, Harvard Business School received a $10 million gift in the form of the Margot and William F. Connell Family MBA Program Innovation Fund. The fund’s namesake, William Connell, earned his MBA from HBS in 1963 before launching the family-owned, Boston-based company Connell Limited Partnership in 1987. Connell operates companies that manufacture goods in the automotive, energy, mining, construction and agriculture industries. As the fund’s name suggests, the $10 million gift is intended for innovations in HBS’s MBA curriculum, specifically its second-year MBA curriculum.
Monday’s gift was the second $10 million offering to HBS from the Connells. The family made a $10 million donation to HBS in 2001 following Connell’s death. HBS used that money to create the Leadership Initiative which supports research and curriculum development in the field of leadership. This second gift commemorates the fiftieth anniversary of William Connell’s graduation from HBS and celebrates Connell’s son’s graduation from the HBS MBA program this year.
Connell was in many ways a model HBS alum. His entrepreneurship, business acumen, strong code of ethics, and life of leadership and service made him an ideal representative of HBS MBA program. In 2001, HBS presented Connell with an Alumni Achievement Award, given to a very select group of alums whom HBS designates as “role models.” Before his death in 2001, Connell told Forbes, “People are rich when you have what you need in the world. A nice family, a good education, to participate in the community. That is rich.” This most recent $10 million gift will perpetuate Connell’s legacy of entrepreneurship and service.
