Harvard College Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid William R. Fitzsimmons ’67 made two trips to Hong Kong in recent weeks, attending donor events and meeting with alumni as he highlighted the region’s growing importance to Harvard’s financial aid funding.
Four alumni said Fitzsimmons visited Hong Kong in both March and April, part of a series of engagements that included both large-scale events and smaller, private meetings with donors. During the April trip, Fitzsimmons also traveled to Singapore for additional fundraising efforts.
The latter visit centered in part on a “Celebration of Scholars” event in Hong Kong on April 15, where Fitzsimmons was a featured speaker. The event highlighted the achievements of Harvard students and the contributions of donors who support financial aid. (Fitzsimmons also attended a Cambridge version of the event in Annenberg Hall on April 9, though he did not speak. In his place, Harvard College Dean David J. Deming delivered remarks thanking financial aid donors.)
But much of the fundraising activity occurred out of public view. In addition to the public event, Fitzsimmons met with alumni at a smaller breakfast gathering earlier that day. Two people present said the meeting focused on financial aid, with Fitzsimmons reiterating both the necessity of maintaining need-blind admissions and the scale of resources required to do so.
Such smaller meetings are a regular component of Harvard’s outreach in places like Hong Kong. The University’s development office frequently organizes small group and one-on-one conversations with donors in the region, often scheduled around visits by senior administrators. Financial aid is typically a central focus of those discussions.
Fitzsimmons is not a new face in Hong Kong. In an in-person presentation to alumni last February, Fitzsimmons described his own role in those efforts, saying he had taken the initiative to travel regularly to Greater China in recent years to raise funds. During that presentation, according to a person in attendance, he also cited internal data indicating that alumni and parents in Hong Kong account for a substantial portion of the College’s financial aid funding.
Hong Kong has long been one of Harvard’s largest sources of foreign philanthropy. According to federal disclosures, around 13 percent of all contributions from Hong Kong to American universities since August 2019 have gone to Harvard.
Fitzsimmons’ trips reflect a broader pattern of Harvard deans traveling to East and Southeast Asia as the University works to sustain fundraising momentum amid federal funding pressures.
In January, Faculty of Arts and Sciences Dean Hopi E. Hoekstra visited the Harvard Club of Singapore for a breakfast meeting, where she laid out her vision and priorities for the FAS.
Harvard Divinity School Dean Marla F. Frederick made her own trip through the region earlier this spring, meeting with alumni at Harvard Clubs in Hong Kong, Korea, and Japan and pitching expanded global partnerships — including new student exchange opportunities and ministerial training initiatives developed with institutional partners in Asia.
Fitzsimmons, in his 39th year leading the Admissions and Financial Aid Office, has long tied his fundraising pitches to his own background as a first-generation college student who attended Harvard on scholarship. He has described financial aid as the single most important factor in widening the College’s applicant pool.
—Staff writer Celine Muir can be reached at [email protected] or Signal at celinem.33. Follow her on X @celinemuir1.
—Staff writer Alexa M. Schmitt can be reached at [email protected] or Signal at alexaschmitt.15. Follow her on X @alexa_m15_s.