Where the money is, Harvard will go. By the end of this month, President Neil L. Rudenstine will finish his second trip to East Asia-two more than any other sitting Harvard president. While there he will cultivate wealthy Asian donors, wooing funds for the large number of Harvard projects related to the region.

While some have suggested that Chinese President Jiang Zemin and Rudenstine's meetings are a sign of China's democratization, the broad goals of the trip, say those who accompanied Rudenstine, are recruitment, opportunities for exchange programs--and fundraising.

The economic success of East Asia in recent years has drawn the University's attention: The Development Office aims to tap the region for 5 percent of the Capital Campaign's goal of $2.1 billion. So far it is only $20 million short.

To meet this goal, the University is making it clear to potential donors that it means business when it comes to Asian studies.

Along for the Ride

Ezra F. Vogel, director of both the Fairbank Center for East Asia Research and the University's Asia Center, joined the Rudenstines on their first trip and will be traveling with them on the second Asia tour.

The Ford Professor of the Social Sciences was one of several experts on Asia who traveled with Rudenstine, his wife Angelica, and officials from the Development Office.

Vogel says traveling to Asia helps the University maintain "good relationships" with people in the region who are interested in the school and are potential donors.

In the process of fostering ties and advancing Harvard's interest in Asia, representatives of the University, including Rudenstine, have had to negotiate cultural differences between the West and the East.

Kristin Sorenson, who directs East Asian operations in the Development Office, says the region lacks a "longstanding tradition of philanthropy," so that most donations to Harvard from Asia are "based on people's relationships with the institution."

One way the University has attracted giving, she says, is by stressing the connection between donations and Asia-specific programs on campus.

"The funds have an impact on issues that are of concern in the region," Sorenson says. "That makes a difference."

As an example of Harvard's attention to regional concerns, Sorenson cites environmental research directed at reducing carbon dioxide levels in China.

Though Sorenson says personal ties lie behind most contributions from Asia, Vogel explained that gifts from the region are more likely to be institutional in origin than U.S. gifts, which tend to come from alumni.

Vogel says the hope of "having their people come to Harvard in fellowship programs" and the realization that it is in the "national interest...to have research in our country" motivate the largesse of Asian foundations and corporations.