Haas Redirects $25 Million Gift After Donor Reveals Himself

The largest private donation in the history of the Haas School of Business will be redirected toward faculty development after the formerly anonymous donor revealed himself, the school announced yesterday.

Alumnus Gerson Bakar, a real estate developer in San Francisco, originally donated $25 million in 2005 to go toward construction of a building to house the executive education program. But the funds will now be used to create five permanent faculty positions.

“We’re tremendously grateful,” said Haas Dean Tom Campbell. “It’s all the difference in the world.”

Campbell said the private gift will allow for more classes and pave the way for a lower student-faculty ratio.

Bakar has donated money to other campus projects in the past, including UC Berkeley’s School of Public Health and the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive. He said he could not state a reason for deciding to donate anonymously and then reveal his name.

“When I wanted to do something for Haas, I asked Dean Campbell where they can use help the most,” he said.

Bakar, who graduated from the school in 1948, agreed to redirect the funds toward faculty development when building constraints called for the redirection of the funds this year, Campbell said.

According to UC Berkeley’s university relations office, Haas raised more than $10 million in private support during the 2006-07 fiscal year out of the $270 million that was collected across the campus’ departments, schools and colleges.

Despite having one of the highest-ranking MBA programs among business schools nationwide, Haas continues to lag behind comparable business schools in raising private donations, Campbell said.

In 2003, Haas’ endowment funds totaled more than $100 million, according to a school Web site. The same year, the Stanford University’s business school’s endowments totaled approximately $500 million.

“There’s not a state university that can’t use private help,” Bakar said.

Professor of business and public policy David Vogel said it is crucial for Haas to gain private funding in order for the school to grow.

“(The goal is) to try to get our resources closer to those of other business schools who we compete with,” Vogel said.

When asked about being Haas’ biggest donor, Bakar said he will only be one of many benefactors to the school.

“All records are broken by somebody else, and I’m a record-breaker for the moment,” Bakar said.

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