Radcliffe announced last week that it has received a "six figure" donation from the Business School--the first gift to the new Radcliffe Institute from another division of the University.

The donation, whose exact value was not specified, is unusual because University divisions generally maintain tight control over their own resources.

"It's a wonderful vote of confidence and a warm gesture of colleagueship from the Business School as we move Radcliffe into the midst of Harvard," said Radcliffe President Linda S. Wilson.

Wilson said she can remember only one other occasion during her nearly 10-year long presidential tenure that Radcliffe has received a gift from another University--a five-figure sum given by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences when Radcliffe began to put together the Lyman Common Room.

"The difference between the two was that I made a request to the Faculty of Arts and Sciences [for that gift]," Wilson said. "The one from the Business School was unsolicited and was simply a response to the new incarnation of Radcliffe."

Administrators said Business School Dean Kim B. Clark gave the money in part because the Business School itself is a comparatively new branch of the University and Clark wanted to help another newly formed division get off its feet.

"He said he knew what it was like for the new incarnation of an enterprise to get off the ground," Wilson said.

Business School officials added that Clark also hoped to support the Institute's mission. "There were two motivators, one of which was the dean's office's desire to see the Institute get off to a good start," said Loretto F. Crane, director of communications at the Business School.

"The other was the desire to be supportive of the concept behind this new institute especially since part of its broad purpose will include research on women's lives and careers," she said.

Of course, it also helps that the Business School is one of the richest schools at the University, thanks to its affluent alumni base.

This gift to Radcliffe comes at a crucial time for the instutition, as it struggles to show that it has not lost the support of donors by merging with the University.

Last month, the school announced that it had raised $6.5 million since making its intent to merge public--considerably above the $4 million raised in the nine months prior to the decision.