Dear Colleagues,

I am very pleased to announce a $2 million gift to Clark to establish the Herschel Professorship in Climate, Environment, and Society. The donors, who have requested anonymity at this time, were inspired by our vision for a new school that draws upon and expands further Clark’s longstanding, inter-disciplinary strengths in research and teaching related to climate change.

This new chair may be used to recruit a new faculty colleague who brings added scholarly expertise or breadth in teaching to our new School of Climate, Environment, and Society expected to open in fall 2025.

I am very grateful to our donors who have been generous to Clark in the past in establishing the Hershel Scholarship Fund which provides financial assistance to Clark undergraduates. While I cannot acknowledge these donors by name publicly, I have privately expressed the importance of this gift to an area of great strategic importance to the University, along with the warmest of thanks from us all.

The Herschel Professorship is the second faculty position related to climate change to be funded through philanthropy this year, demonstrating the inspiration and momentum we are generating – together – through launch of the new school.

Sincerely,
David Fithian ’87