Anand Mahindra Gives Harvard $10 Million for Humanities Center

Largest gift for the study of humanities in Harvard’s history

Cambridge, MA — Harvard University announced today that Anand Mahindra

’77, MBA ’81 has given the University $10 million to support the Humanities
Center in honor of his mother, Indira Mahindra. It is the largest gift for the study
of humanities in Harvard’s history, and will advance the unique interdisciplinary
collaborations led by center director Homi Bhabha. In recognition, the center will
be renamed the Mahindra Humanities Center at Harvard.

“This remarkable gift is a significant affirmation of the importance of the

humanities and the central place of the liberal arts in the University,” said Drew
Gilpin Faust, president of Harvard University and Lincoln Professor of History. “It
comes at a time when it is vital to bring a humane and critical perspective to the
urgent questions that confront the world. Anand Mahindra understands the
essential role of the humanities in this work, and I am deeply grateful.”

“I am happy to be able to contribute to the cause of the humanities,” said Anand

Mahindra. “To address complex problems in an interdependent world, it is vital
to encourage the cross-cultural and interdisciplinary exchange of ideas in an
international setting. I am proud to be part of the intellectual legacy of India’s
contribution to global thinking across the arts, culture, science, and philosophy. I
am convinced of the need for
incorporating social and humanistic concerns into the core values that inform the
world of business and have sought to do so with tremendous support from my
peers and colleagues at work and beyond.”

“The tradition of liberal arts education is at the heart of the Faculty of Arts and
Sciences,” said Michael D. Smith, dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences and
John H. Finley, Jr.

Anand Mahindra Gives Harvard $10 Million for Humanities Center

Professor of Engineering and Applied Sciences. “The Humanities Center is a

showcase
for this approach, creating fertile confrontations of perspectives, histories, and
frameworks that probe our understanding of the human condition, our world, and
ourselves. Anand Mahindra’s understanding of this critical work is exceeded only
by the generosity of his support. Under the guidance of Professor Bhabha, this
gift will enable the Humanities Center to expand its offerings of critical
interdisciplinary research and unique conversations.”

“The Humanities Center’s association with the Mahindra family, renowned for the
cosmopolitan ethos of its business ventures in India and abroad, will emphasize
the universal value of the humanities in both education and public life,” said
Bhabha, the Anne F. Rothenberg Professor of the Humanities, Department of
English, and director of the Humanities Center. “The humanities teach us the
careful arts of interpretation and extend our understanding of the lives, works,
and histories of others. We humanists build communities, not models. Anand
Mahindra’s gift will enhance the Humanities Center’s presence as the crossroads
of the Harvard community, encouraging the traffic of ideas across the campus
and beyond. Our very name now signals the global reach of the humanities.”

The Mahindra Humanities Center will advance interdisciplinary exchanges among Harvard
faculty, faculty from other area institutions, graduate students, undergraduates, and the public. It will
sponsor a wide range of panel discussions, lectures, readings, conferences, performances, workshops,
and seminars, as well as graduate and
postdoctoral fellowships. The center will foster collaborations among the humanities, social sciences,
and sciences in the belief that the humanities make a unique contribution in providing platforms for
debate across various fields and forms of knowledge.

Anand Mahindra Gives Harvard $10 Million for Humanities Center

These activities will take place during a year of increased emphasis at Harvard
on the role of the humanities in the University and in public life. President Faust
has indicated that she will charge a faculty working group, beginning in the
spring semester, with exploring the role of humanistic study in the curriculum, in
collaborative and interdisciplinary work across the University, and in public
discourse at the national and international levels.
The naming of the Mahindra Humanities Center at Harvard reflects the
intellectual background of Anand Mahindra, who came to Harvard as an
undergraduate in the film studies program of the Department of Visual and
Environmental Studies, graduated magna cum laude, and went on to earn his
MBA from Harvard Business School (HBS).

Anand Mahindra is vice chairman and managing director of Mahindra &

Mahindra, Ltd., the flagship company of the Mahindra Group, which is among the
top 10 industrial houses in India. His extensive activities as a Harvard alumnus
include membership on the Committee on University Resources, the Advisory
Committee of the Harvard University Asia Center, the HBS Board of Dean’s
Advisors, and the Asia-Pacific Advisory Board. He cofounded the HBS Association
of India and received the HBS alumni achievement award in 2008.
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Contact:
Ed Sevilla Kate Vossen
Executive Director of Strategic Communications phone: 212.614.4769
Alumni Affairs and
Development email:kate.vossen@pivotred.com
Harvard University
(617) 495-5945 (o)
(781) 856-3700 (m)
ed_sevilla@harvard.edu