Harvard Business School (HBS) last month announced plans to build a new center on its Boston campus that will serve as a place for students, faculty, alumni and business leaders to convene and share ideas. Called Klarman Hall in recognition of a generous alumni gift, the new building will feature a large conference center, a performance space and a community gathering space and is expected to open in 2018.
A gift from Seth Klarman (MBA 1982) and his wife Beth will make the construction of the new facility possible. Klarman is president and CEO of Boston-based investment management firm the Baupost Group, his wife is president of the Klarman Family Foundation and both serve as members of HBS’s Board of Dean’s Advisors.
“When you bring people with talent, vision and ambition together in a space designed specifically to facilitate connections, conversation and debate, the potential for transformative ideas and action is limitless,” Klarman said in a statement. “Beth and I believe game-changing innovations will emerge from this space,” he continued.
Once completed, Klarman Hall will help host some of the more than 700 events HBS holds each year. These events range from research conferences to symposia to cultural events and draw tens of thousands of participants.
“We know that if we can create a gathering place of high functionality and high purpose, and if we leverage our convening power within that space, we can significantly affect the public debate about issues that are of the greatest importance to people at this school, in this country and around the globe,” HBS Dean Nitin Nohria said in a statement.
The new building will be located next to HBS’s Spangler Center and will be designed by Boston-based William Rawn and Associates, architects of the recently opened Tata Hall.
Klarman Hall will be equipped with state-of-the-art technology to enable global connections, stage and backstage capacity for events, films and cultural events, a multi-purpose foyer and a pre-reception space.
