$100m gift withheld from Harvard

Some Harvard professors said yesterday that they could not understand why Oracle Corp. chief executive Larry Ellison had abandoned his plans to give at least $100 million to Harvard, which would have been the university's largest gift ever.

This week, Ellison told European reporters that he had decided not to give the money to Harvard because of the resignation of Harvard president Lawrence H. Summers. Tomorrow is Summers's last day in office.

Ellison, one of the richest men in the world, first told the world of his intention to give the money in media interviews in spring 2005. Harvard officials, lacking a final agreement, refused to comment at the time, but behind the scenes were preparing to launch the Ellison Institute for World Health with the $100 million to $115 million gift . The institute would have rated the quality and effectiveness of government healthcare programs around the world.

``Even though Larry Summers did the negotiating, he wasn't going to be doing the work," said Walter Willett, chairman of the department of nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health. ``One can only speculate that this was sort of meant to punish the university for not continuing on with [Summers]."

A spokesman for Harvard's development office, Sarah Friedell, said in a statement: ``We are disappointed with Mr. Ellison's decision to withdraw his commitment." Summers's spokesman declined to comment.

Christopher Murray, the professor who would have run the institute, questioned Ellison's statement that the gift was withdrawn because of Summers's resignation .

``I am not sure what to make of Ellison's remarks, as he was not willing to speak with Summers on this topic, despite repeated attempts," Murray said in an e-mail to Bloomberg News yesterday. Murray also told the Globe last week that Harvard had not communicate d directly with Ellison since last November, several months before Summers's resignation.

Murray, who was traveling in Switzerland, did not respond to e-mails from the Globe yesterday.

Oracle spokesman Bob Wynne countered Murray's skepticism by saying that it was clear long before Summers's resignation that he was embroiled in controversy. He said the idea for the institute stemmed from conversations between Summers and Ellison and that the Oracle executive's confidence was in Summers.

``He's president of Harvard University, he's a noted economist and the former treasury secretary," Wynne said. ``It really comes down to Larry Summers's credentials, his position as president of the university, and his area of expertise."

The failed deal is bad news for both sides, said Stacy Palmer, editor of the Chronicle of Philanthropy. ``When people hear a gift's been withdrawn, it's not good for Harvard and it's not good for Ellison," she said. ``People are always worried about their reputation as a good place to give."

Palmer said it's unusual for such a high-profile deal to fall apart, but added that the charisma of the leader is often the biggest attraction to a donor. She added that a change in leadership may cause cold feet, especially because, if unhappy with how the gift is used, a donor doesn't have much legal recourse after the check is signed.

Although there was no formal agreement yet, Harvard officials had already begun the process of establishing the institute.

A notice circulated last year on the Internet and by e-mail sought applicants for a fellowship program at the ``Ellison Institute for World Health at Harvard University," with one of the e-mails crediting the ``generosity and vision of Larry Ellison."

Murray has said that three senior staff members were hired for the institute and later dismissed, while the Institute was preparing to hire 130 staff members over the next year.

Willett said that hiring some staff seemed to make sense, given that Ellison wanted an ambitious project ramped up quickly. ``It's not too unusual to bring some people aboard early," he said, adding that he was not personally involved. ``You can't start a big project overnight."

There was a small silver lining for Harvard yesterday: the university announced that it had received a new gift of $12.35 million to endow the Rappaport Institute for Greater Boston, an urban policy center. The gift came from the Jerome Lyle Rappaport Charitable Foundation and the Rappaport family.

Bombardieri can be reached at bombardieri@globe.com.