Saudi prince gives Harvard, Georgetown $40 million

BOSTON (Reuters) – A billionaire Saudi prince, ranked by
Forbes Magazine as the world’s fifth richest person and
wealthiest Muslim businessman, has donated $40 million to
Harvard and Georgetown to expand their Islamic studies
programs.

Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, a nephew of the late Saudi King
Fahd and a prominent figure both inside the Saudi kingdom and
internationally, gave $20 million to each university, according
to both schools’ Web sites.

“Bridging the understanding between East and West is
important for peace and tolerance,” Alwaleed, a global investor
with a net worth estimated by Forbes of more than $20 billion,
said in a statement released by the schools.

The gift to Harvard — one of the 25 largest in the its
history — will fund four new faculty positions in a new
Islamic studies program and make rare Islamic textual sources
available in digital format, Harvard said.

Georgetown, the country’s oldest Catholic and Jesuit
university, said it would expand its Center for
Muslim-Christian Understanding.

“This gift will deepen Georgetown’s ability to advance
education in the fields of Islamic civilization and
Muslim-Christian understanding,” Georgetown University
President John J. DeGioia said.

Harvard University already has the largest group of Islamic
specialists in the English-speaking world, though it does not
have a separate Islamic studies department.

It said the new Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Islamic Studies
Program will bring together faculty, students and researchers
from across Harvard and be housed in the Faculty of Arts and
Sciences in coordination with Harvard Divinity School.

Harvard said it will also create an endowed chair named for
Prince Alwaleed.

Harvard currently has 13 senior faculty and 16 junior
faculty and visiting scholars in various areas of Islamic
studies. These include faculty in Near Eastern languages, a law
school program and programs at the school of government.