Paul Tang AB ’74 believes a broad liberal arts and sciences education is the best preparation for the leaders of tomorrow. “The pursuit of knowledge of cultures and other people is what an education should be doing,” he says, “and that’s what Harvard has always stood for.”
Reflecting on his own liberal arts education at Harvard College, Tang says he was amazed by the diversity of ideas and activities on campus. He recalls happening upon a chamber music recital at Harvard Art Museums’ Adolphus Busch Hall and becoming completely entranced. “It was an eye- and ear-opening—and, I daresay, mind-opening—experience for a public school student who immigrated to the United States with his family at the age of six,” says Tang, who concentrated in government at the College.
After Harvard, he earned his JD and MBA from Columbia University and went on to a career in law and business, most recently as executive vice president and general counsel of Burlington Coat Factory.
Tang recently showed his support for Harvard’s educational mission by establishing a charitable remainder trust through a gift of appreciated stock. “I wanted to support Harvard as an institution,” he says. “The University is a place where scholars, academicians, and thinkers need to be nourished and supported.”
By funding the trust through a gift of stock, Tang received an income tax deduction based on the fair market value and avoided capital gains taxes that would be due if the stock were sold instead of donated. The trust will also provide quarterly income to Tang and his wife for the rest of their lives, after which the principal will transfer to Harvard as unrestricted funds for the Faculty of Arts and Sciences.
Tang says it was important to him that the gift be unrestricted, giving the dean the flexibility to use the funds where they are most needed.
“I didn’t want to direct it to a specific purpose,” he says. “I wanted to support the cause of education in general, so Harvard would put it to use in the best way possible.”
Contact University Planned Giving to learn more about giving gifts of appreciated stock.