The men's hockey program got a boost yesterday when Robert D. Ziff '88 announced he has endowed the position of the team's coach with a $2 million gift.

Coming exactly 100 years after Harvard met Brown in the nation's first collegiate hockey game, the gift will help Harvard to improve the successful program it has assembled over the past century, said Ronn Tomassoni, who yesterday became the first Robert D. Ziff hockey coach.

"It's a very generous gift. It will help Harvard to maintain its tradition and standing among the top hockey programs in the country, and will help us to meet the challenges of the future," he said.

"It is because of the loyalty and support of people like him that coaching at Harvard is so special," Tomassoni added.

Ziff, who played intramural hockey as a student, made a donation to that program several years ago. Discussing his latest gift, he commended the accomplishments of Harvard hockey players and the role that athletics can play in one's undergraduate experience.

"Athletics can be a significant rallying point for undergraduates--cheering for a team brings people together and builds community among individuals of different backgrounds and far-flung interests," Ziff said.

According to Laura Smith in the Office of Sports Information, income from the endowment will go towards the hockey coach's salary, and the donation will serve a dual purpose.

"The $2 million will become part of the general endowment and will continue to grow and grow," Smith said. "It will also free up a portion of Dean [of the Faculty Jeremy R.] Knowles's discretionary budget that he will be able to turn around and use for other purposes."

The men's hockey coach will now become the third endowed athletic position at Harvard. The two others are the Stevenson Family Coach of Harvard Football and the Nichols Family Director of Athletics.

Yesterday, Knowles expressed appreciation for the endowment.

"I am so pleased that Robert Ziff has translated his enthusiasm for hockey into such tangible support for a sport that has, over the years, been a source of great pride for Harvard students and alumni," he said.

Ziff, who concentrated in engineering and applied physics at Harvard, graduated from Cornell Law School in 1992. He is currently president of Ziff Brothers Investment in New York.