Edward Stephen Harkness

Edward Stephen Harkness inherited a fortune built on his father Stephen’s investment in Standard Oil. He came to regard that wealth as a responsibility: he believed it should serve the common good. Reserved and wary of publicity, he often gave anonymously. His wife, Mary, encouraged his interest in art and shared his support for cultural institutions.

Art and health

In 1912, Harkness began giving to the Egyptian collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and joined its board of trustees. He and Mary became important supporters of the museum, where he served as chair of the Egyptian Department. Their gifts helped build a collection that endures as part of the museum’s public life.

Harkness also worked with his mother, Anna, who founded the Commonwealth Fund in 1918 with an initial gift of $10 million. Edward served as its first president, guiding its charitable work. The Fund focused on improving health care, while Harkness pursued a major medical project of his own: he helped bring Presbyterian Hospital and Columbia University together to create Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center. He donated $31 million and 22 acres for its construction and support. The partnership helped establish a model joining patient care, medical teaching, and research.

Education and lasting change

Education became one of Harkness’s central causes. His experience as a student who struggled to speak up in formal classes informed his belief that learning should be more personal and collaborative. He gave to schools and colleges including Yale, Harvard, Columbia, Phillips Exeter Academy, St. Paul’s School, and institutions serving women and African American students. His educational gifts totalled $67 million.

In 1925, he created Commonwealth Fund fellowships that brought graduate students from Britain and its dominions to study in the United States. In 1930, he gave Phillips Exeter $5.8 million after urging its head, Lewis Perry, to devise a far-reaching change in teaching. The resulting small-group, discussion-led approach gave classrooms their famous Harkness tables. Its influence continues at Exeter and beyond.

After Anna’s death in 1926, Harkness also established the Pilgrim Trust in Britain. He gave it £2 million to support the restoration of historic monuments damaged in the First World War; the trust later broadened its work to social welfare. By the time he died in 1940, Harkness had given more than $129 million. His legacy lies not only in buildings and collections, but in institutions reshaped by his conviction that thoughtful giving could improve health, education, and public life.

Sources: centennial.commonwealthfund.org, philanthropyroundtable.org, exeter.edu