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School of Public HealthT. Michael Knasel PhD '68
I Choose Harvard...
February 11, 2013
When T. Michael “Mike” Knasel PhD ’68 began his graduate work in engineering at Harvard, he did not have to wait long to get his feet wet. “I was able to work on biomedical projects with top researchers as soon as I arrived in Cambridge,” he says. “I appreciated the confidence they had in me.”
Knasel earned both his master's and doctorate degrees from the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (GSAS) and went on to a successful career in the aerospace industry. Through it all, he has never forgotten that initial faith Harvard had in him. Over the years he has returned the favor as a longtime Associates-level donor to the Graduate School Fund and a member of the Associates Committee.
“I was asked by a member to join,” he recounts, “and I realized that there is so much more to giving than writing a check.”
Knasel says that meeting the staff and students as part of his committee work is a high point of his involvement, as is reaching out to alumni to share the excitement of today’s Harvard. “I wanted to keep up with how Harvard has evolved,” he says, “but, more importantly, to be able to talk to others who might be thinking about giving.”
Now retired, Knasel and his wife, Anne, are active in many charitable and volunteer organizations. In addition to his work with the Graduate School Fund, Knasel assists the Harvard Admissions Office as a member of Harvard’s Schools Committee.
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BRETT NOWAK AB '03