Tufts has received $136 million, the largest gift in the university's history, after charitable trust funds set up almost 50 years ago by engineer and businessman Frank Doble (E '11) were dissolved.
The donation has been invested directly in the university's endowment, and some of the funds the investment creates will be earmarked to help the university pursue major goals such as improving financial aid, constructing a new, integrated biology and engineering laboratory and supporting faculty.
"This is an extraordinary act of philanthropy that will have a far reaching impact on Tufts," President Lawrence Bacow told the Daily in an e-mail.
The gift is unrestricted, meaning that the university can apportion the money however it sees fit, according to Vice President for University Advancement Brian Lee. This type of grant is rare, because most donors stipulate that their money be devoted to certain projects or interests.
"At the end of the day the university ... is benefiting from this in a way that's largely unrestricted. The income that will be generated from it will allow the university to benefit in a variety of ways," Lee said.
Tufts is not the only beneficiary of the trust funds, whose total value was $272 million. Lesley University, located in Cambridge, received an equal donation. Doble, who served as a trustee and chairman of the board at Lesley, established the trusts in 1960 and dictated that they be split evenly between Lesley and Tufts upon their
dissolution.
Doble founded Doble Engineering in 1920, nine years after graduating from Tufts with an undergraduate degree in electrical engineering. The company, which today operates in 75 countries, offers diagnostic testing to help clients in the power industry improve efficiency.
"Frank Doble was a true innovator who foresaw the potential of the electric power industry when it was still in its infancy. The technologies that he developed made the industry safer and more productive," Bacow said in a
press release.
Doble moved the company's offices in 1925 to the Hillside area of Tufts' Medford/Somerville campus, where it remained for 22 years. Doble often brought Tufts engineering students to his plant for tours, and he sought Tufts graduates to work for his company.
Tufts awarded Doble an honorary doctorate in science in 1962. The degree citation read, "Humanist and engineer, you have demonstrated in your career that it is possible to bridge the gap between two cultures; beyond this you have shown that the inevitable result of this bridging is responsible citizenship." Doble passed away in 1969.
Doble established the trust funds, which together owned 87 percent of Doble Engineering, in 1960. ESCO Technologies purchased the company last year, and the funds have since
been dissolved.
Part of the money garnered by the $136 million investment in Tufts' endowment will go toward building a new laboratory on Boston Avenue. This facility, which will be the university's first new lab building in almost 20 years, is meant to facilitate interaction between engineering and biology at Tufts. The university plans to build it at 550 Boston Ave., 574 Boston Ave. or both. Tufts will name the facility
after Doble.
"It's an exciting building and it's something that's long been an important priority for the university," Lee said of
the laboratory.
"In addition to that, the [donation] will allow us to support financial aid, faculty retention and a number of other student and faculty priorities," Lee added.
Lee said that Doble embodied the type of alumni who work hard to show their gratitude to their alma mater.
"It's an excellent example of how one generation helps the next at Tufts," he said. "It's an alumnus who was committed to giving back. This institution has been built on one generation of alumni benefiting the next."
