Ratan Tata, head of India’s famed Tata Group and a 1975 graduate of Harvard Business School’s Advanced Management Program for senior executives, joined Dean Nitin Nohria, former Dean Jay Light, and HBS alumnus and benefactor C.D. “Dick” Spangler at a groundbreaking ceremony at the School last Friday night (Dec. 2) for Tata Hall, a new executive education complex scheduled for completion in Dec. 2013.
The new building was made possible by a $50 million gift from Tata Trusts and Companies, a philanthropic wing of India’s Tata Group, which Ratan Tata has headed since 1991.
Located on the northeast corner of the School’s campus in Boston, Tata Hall will enhance and extend the School’s portfolio of Executive Education program offerings. The building will house executives who come from around the globe to advance their education and then return to strengthen their organizations, thus furthering the HBS mission of educating leaders who make a difference in the world.
“We look forward to welcoming remarkable leaders, investing in their education, and contributing to their ability to make a profound difference in the world,” said HBS Dean Nitin Nohria. “Tata Hall marks the shift to a new global century of business, and is a special marker as we look forward to a renewed, more interconnected world.”
“I’m happy and proud to give something back to an institution that has done so much for me and for others. It is a great honor to play this role and to leave a lasting imprint on the Harvard Business School campus. I hope Tata Hall does great things for the people who live and move through this valued institution,” said Mr. Tata.
Among the other guests at the ceremony were William Rawn, founding partner of William Rawn Associates Architects, Inc., who designed the building, and Edward Bond, CEO of Bond Brothers Construction Co., which will build it.
The arc-shaped, seven story, glass and brick building will feature living spaces, classrooms, and common spaces to help build community among the nearly 10,000 participants who attend Harvard Business School Executive Education programs each year.
This story is reprinted with permission from The Harbus, the MBA student newspaper of the Harvard Business School. Also from The Harbus:
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