Morgan and Helen Chu give Harvard Law School $31.4 million, its largest gift, for six professorships

Morgan and Helen Chu have given Harvard Law School $31.4 million to endow six new professorships, the largest gift in the school's history, Harvard Law School announced on October 25.

The gift closed out what the school called its most successful fundraising year on record. Donors gave more than $135 million in fiscal year 2026, nearly $30 million above the previous record, according to the announcement.

Who are the donors?

Morgan Chu graduated from Harvard Law School magna cum laude in 1976 and is an intellectual property litigator at the law firm Irell & Manella, where he chairs the litigation group and was co-managing partner from 1997 to 2003, the school said. The Harvard Crimson reported that he is a former president of Harvard's Board of Overseers. The announcement did not give background on Helen Chu.

The couple have given to the school before, for professorships, prizes, need-based scholarships and annual funds. A 2013 gift permanently endowed the dean's chair, now held by Dean John C.P. Goldberg, the Morgan and Helen Chu Dean and Professor of Law.

"I am grateful to the law school for mistakenly admitting me, where I had a world-class education — and a lot of fun," Chu is quoted in the announcement. "Helen and I wanted to say 'Thank You.'"

Why professorships?

An endowed professorship is a permanent fund whose annual payout pays part of a faculty member's salary and research costs, freeing that money in the operating budget. "Great law schools depend on great teachers, scholars, and students," Goldberg said in the announcement.

The school said gifts in the record year also supported the Opportunity Fund, which offers tuition-free study to students with the greatest need, along with financial aid, the Annual Fund and faculty initiatives.

How big was the year?

The Crimson, citing a person briefed on the giving, reported that the $135 million topped each of the school's two prior fundraising years by more than $50 million. It put those years at roughly $73 million for 2025 and $84 million for 2024.

The law school's year mirrors the university's. The Crimson reported that Harvard's current-use gifts reached a record $684 million in fiscal 2026, a figure we covered in Harvard's record year for current-use gifts, even as the university remains in what the Crimson called a costly legal standoff with the White House. A law school spokesperson did not respond to the Crimson's request for comment.

What other schools can take from it

In our view, the notable feature is the donor relationship. The Chus endowed the dean's chair 13 years ago and have kept giving across scholarships, prizes and annual funds; the record gift came from a donor the school had kept close for decades, not a new prospect. For smaller colleges and nonprofits, the practical point is that major gifts most often come from people who already give, and stewardship between gifts is where much of the work happens.

Endowed gifts also carry obligations. As we noted in a restricted gift is a promise, a fund named for a purpose binds the institution to that purpose for as long as the fund exists.