Harvard has always been important for James Nuzzo JD ’94 and Bryann Bromley P’15. They’ve lived at Harvard while Nuzzo was a resident tutor at Quincy House, and they were married at Memorial Church. Bromley now teaches on the faculty at Harvard Medical School, and Nuzzo serves as a nonresident tutor in Leverett House. However, they discovered an even deeper connection after their son Ben ’15 became a College student.
“It has been wonderful to experience Harvard through his eyes and to see him grow personally and intellectually,” says Nuzzo. He and his wife consider their son’s classmates as part of their extended family, hosting boisterous Thanksgivings at their home in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. “We became friends with kids from Asia, the Middle East, Europe, and all parts of the United States. Knowing them has enriched him and enriched us,” he says.
And they wanted to do more to support this enrichment. They became active volunteers for the Harvard College Fund Parents Committee, serving as regional vice chairs and hosting a number of parent events.
“It’s been wonderful to get to know other Harvard parents and share why it’s important to volunteer. Every student has benefited from the generosity of the parents and alumni that came before them, for hundreds of years,” says Nuzzo.
Nuzzo and Bromley have made a number of gifts to enhance the student experience. During their son’s first year, they donated ten digital pianos for freshman residence halls. “The letters we received from students were incredible, telling us how the pianos enhanced their music,” says Nuzzo. “The pianos also became a draw in the entryways with students gathering to play and listen to music.”
The couple’s most recent gift will have an even wider impact on arts at Harvard. Their innovation fund will support the new Theater, Dance & Media concentration. The first of its kind at the College, the concentration will blend historical and theoretical study with arts practice.
“We are thrilled to help fund course development, instructors, and visiting artists,” says Nuzzo, whose family is immersed in music. He and his wife have been active cellists and their son Ben, a music and mathematics concentrator, wants to be a composer. “We also hope it will help attract other donors and encourage them to support the concentration.”
This is their way of helping to shape the Harvard experience for students today and for years to come. “We wanted to make certain that the arts are an important part of the Harvard community,” says Nuzzo. “The arts are part of what makes us human.”
And it’s another way of nourishing a community second-to-none in Nuzzo’s and Bromley’s eyes. “Harvard is full of astounding people—such amazing individuals from around the world,” he says. “We want to help them to do extraordinary things.”