Harvard Law School Dean Martha Minow has announced that Steven Klinsky J.D. ’81 M.B.A. ’79, and his wife, Maureen Klinsky, have endowed the Steven and Maureen Klinsky Professorship of Practice for Leadership and Progress at HLS. The new chair is the first endowed professorship of practice established at Harvard Law School, and is designed to bring visiting leaders from a wide range of fields beyond law to campus to teach and bring inspiration and broad perspective to the school and, more generally, to Harvard University.
Dean Minow also announced that Julius Genachowski ’91, who served as chairman of the Federal Communications Commission from 2009 until May of this year, will be the inaugural holder of the chair. (See the appointment announcement here.) He will teach an interdisciplinary course enrolling students from Harvard Law School and also Harvard Business School, where he will be a Visiting Scholar.
Said Dean Minow: “Steve and Maureen invited us to expand the imagination of students and faculty by connecting with legally trained leaders in business, nonprofit organizations, and government—people who pursued unconventional paths across different sectors—and their generosity in choosing to endow this new professorship of practice enables us to invite and bring extraordinary people to share wisdom grounded in high-level experiences to the Law School and the wider University. I am so grateful for their vision and for the opportunities they enable, and I am thrilled that the inaugural holder of this new chair will be Julius Genachowski.”
Said Steven Klinsky: “My family is proud to establish Harvard Law School’s first ever endowed professorship of practice. Our goal for this Professorship of Leadership and Progress is to provide an opportunity for world class leaders, such as Julius Genachowski, to come to the school from a wide range of fields in order to deepen the school’s relationship with the world at large, and to train and inspire HLS students in new ways to make positive real world impacts. I still remember how happy I was to be admitted to Harvard Law School over 30 years ago, and I am very pleased to be able to support the school now.”
Steven Klinsky is the founder and chief executive officer of New Mountain Capital, LLC, a firm that owns and controls a portfolio of operating companies across a range of cyclical “defensive growth” industries, and which manages over $9 billion of private equity, public equity and debt fund capital commitments. Earlier in his career he was co-founder of Goldman Sachs & Co.’s Leveraged Buyout Group (1981-1984) and a partner of Forstmann Little & Co. from 1984 until leaving to found New Mountain in June 1999. He was raised in Michigan, and earned his B.A. from the University of Michigan in 1976, his M.B.A from Harvard Business School in 1979 and his J.D. from HLS in 1981. Outside of his professional career, he is active in numerous charitable and educational causes, particularly in the areas of children’s health and education. He is a member of the Dean’s Advisory Board at Harvard Law School. His wife, Maureen Klinsky, who holds a B.S. from Cornell University and an M.F.A. from Columbia University, is a writer. She publishes under her maiden name, Maureen Sherry.
Genachowski, who will be the first occupant of the new Steven and Maureen Klinsky Professorship of Practice for Leadership and Progress, said: “What a privilege to become affiliated with Harvard, and to have the chance to engage with Harvard students and faculty. As I return to the private sector after the honor of four years in government, I’m grateful to Harvard’s Law and Business Schools—and particularly Dean Martha Minow—for encouraging me to share my insights about the way technology-driven changes are affecting our economy and society, businesses and people all over the world. The opportunities and challenges of technology are vast, and this is just one of many steps Harvard is taking to focus on them. I’m also very grateful for the foresight and generosity of Steve and Maureen Klinsky in endowing a position to encourage visiting leaders from fields beyond law to bring their experience and perspective to Harvard.”