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Morgan Chu and Helen Chu donate $31.4 million to Harvard Law School, a record single gift in the school’s history

On October 25, Harvard Law School announced that 1976 alumnus Morgan Chu (Zhu Qinwen) and his wife Helen Chu had donated $31.4 million to the school, the largest single gift in its history. The funds will be used to establish six new professorships, providing long-term support for faculty research and teaching. Law School Dean John C.P. Goldberg (now the Morgan and Helen Chu Dean) said he was deeply grateful and said that great law schools depend on great teachers, scholars and students, and that the donation will help continue to attract and support the best faculty members.

Morgan Chu said that he was grateful to the law school for having mistakenly admitted him, where he received a world-class education and had many enjoyable experiences, and that he and Helen wanted to express their thanks in this way. Chu graduated from Harvard Law School in 1976 magna cum laude and, after graduating, clerked for Judge Charles M. Merrill of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. He is a well-known lawyer in the field of intellectual property litigation and is currently chair of the litigation group at the Los Angeles law firm Irell & Manella. Previously, the Chu couple had donated to the law school to support professorships, academic awards, need-based scholarships, annual and general-purpose funds, and student and academic programs; in 2013, a $5 million donation permanently endowed the deanship, which is now held by Goldberg.

Harvard Law School’s fundraising total for fiscal year 2026 reached $135 million, a record high, more than $50 million above the previous two years’ totals of about $73 million and $84 million. The Chu couple’s donation was an important part of that fiscal year’s fundraising.

Original sources:

  1. Title: Morgan ’76 and Helen Chu make record $31.4M gift to Harvard Law School Publisher: Harvard Law School Publication date: 2026-10-25 URL: https://hls.harvard.edu/today/morgan-76-and-helen-chu-make-record-31-4m-gift-to-harvard-law-school/ Source nature: university official announcement Verification status: visible portions of the page were read in this session; verification date 2026-10-28. Supporting content: The Chu couple donated $31.4 million, the largest single gift in the law school’s history; the funds will be used to establish six new professorships; Dean Goldberg expressed thanks; Chu said that he was grateful for being mistakenly admitted and for receiving a world-class education; previous donations had supported professorships, scholarships, and more, and in 2013 a deanship was permanently endowed.

  2. Title: Harvard Law School Announces $31.4 Million Donation Publisher: Harvard Magazine Publication date: 2026-10-27 URL: https://www.harvardmagazine.com/harvard-law-school/chu-gift-endows-six-professorships Source nature: media report Verification status: full text was read in this session; verification date 2026-10-28. Supporting content: Confirms that the $31.4 million is the largest gift in Harvard Law School history and will be used to establish six professorships; Harvard Law School’s fiscal 2026 fundraising reached a record $135 million; Chu is a former Harvard Overseer and intellectual property lawyer; previous donations had covered multiple purposes, and the deanship is named for the Chu couple.

  3. Title: Harvard Law School Raises Record $135 Million in Fiscal Year 2026 Publisher: The Harvard Crimson Publication date: 2026-10-26 URL: https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2026/10/26/harvard-law-record-donations/ Source nature: campus newspaper report Verification status: full text was read in this session; verification date 2026-10-28. Supporting content: Harvard Law School raised a record $135 million in fiscal 2026; the Chu couple’s $31.4 million donation was the largest in school history and will be used to establish six professorships; the previous two years’ fundraising totals were about $73 million and $84 million, respectively.

ABAB AI Insight

Harvard Law School, founded in 1817, is one of the oldest continuously operating law schools in the United States. This $31.4 million donation will establish six new professorships and provide permanent funding support for faculty, a typical long-term investment by alumni in teaching and research capacity. Chu graduated cum laude in 1976, clerked for a Ninth Circuit judge after graduation, and later became a well-known intellectual property litigator and now chairs the litigation group at Irell & Manella. He and Helen had previously made multiple donations, including permanently endowing the deanship in 2013, giving the current dean the formal title of Morgan and Helen Chu Dean.

In terms of funding structure, the donation goes directly into a permanent endowment for six professorships rather than one-time operating spending. Harvard Law School’s total fundraising for fiscal 2026 reached $135 million, more than $50 million above the previous two years, and the Chu couple’s single gift made up an important part of that total. Harvard University as a whole also reported more than $1.5 billion in cross-school donations during the same period. Chu said that the donation was his thanks to the law school for having mistakenly admitted him, and that statement appears in the official announcement.

Compared with other law schools, DePaul University College of Law also received an alumni donation of about $30 million during the same period for renaming and establishing related centers. Harvard Law School’s donation, by contrast, was focused on professorships, continuing its previous pattern of supporting faculty through endowment. Chu’s career has centered on intellectual property litigation, but this donation announcement did not designate the funds for any specific legal field; instead, they were used for general faculty support.

This donation made Harvard Law School the recipient of the largest single gift in its history, at $31.4 million, to establish six new professorships, while also helping push total fundraising for fiscal 2026 to a record $135 million. The Chu couple had previously permanently endowed the deanship and had repeatedly supported scholarships and academic programs. The official announcement framed the donation as gratitude for the law school experience, while the permanent nature of the professorships turns the funds into long-term faculty resources.

ABAB News · Law of cognition

  1. A single alumni gift can establish multiple permanent professorships and simultaneously push annual fundraising to a historic high.

  2. When donors who have already permanently endowed a deanship give again, the funds can continue to be used for general faculty endowment rather than a specific project.

  3. The official-announcement phrasing about being mistakenly admitted can appear in the same event as the donation amount and its long-term purpose.