University President Drew G. Faust said last week that she “first visited Gerald Chan a number of years ago,” and stressed that the gift “coming from an alumnus of the school is particularly meaningful because it reflects an entire lifetime of engagement with the school...from somebody who knows how his life was changed by his experiences.”

Indeed, Chan’s connection to his alma mater has not been limited to philanthropy. He gave a talk in 2011 about pairing investment decisions with scientific acumen and a year later offered a Wintersession course at the school on innovation and change in public health.

“I’m probably the ‘black sheep’ of the School,” Chan said in the 2011 talk, according to an HSPH press release. “Not many graduates of this school go into the private sector. But I would like to report that I haven’t gone completely to the ‘dark side.’ I’m in the private sector, but I’m still involved in science and I’m still very concerned about the public good.”

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Chan was subsequently invited to deliver the school’s 2012 Commencement address. In his address titled “The Idea of Public Health,” the investor spoke about the notions of idea, public, and health, ultimately underscoring the role graduates can play in fulfilling unmet global needs.

“Perhaps in social enterprises, our young people will find a way of melding together public and private interests and in so doing, will define a sustainable equilibrium both in their own personal lives as well as for society at large,” Chan said at the time.

—Staff writer Christine Y. Cahill can be reached at christine.cahill@thecrimson.com. Follow her on Twitter @cycahill16.

—Staff writer Amna H. Hashmi can be reached at amnahashmi@college.harvard.edu. Follow her on Twitter @amna_hashmi.