Nathan Gantcher
Tufts President Lawrence S. Bacow awarded Nathan Gantcher an honorary degree during the University's 2004 Commencement ceremonies on Sunday, May 23, 2004.

[Biography | Honorary Degree]

Medford/Somerville, Mass. [05-23-04] Nathan Gantcher, Tufts alumnus and immediate past chairman of the Board of Trustees, the heart and soul of Tufts are embodied in you and your dedicated work on behalf of this great university. In your twenty years of trusteeship, you provided wise counsel, bold leadership, and abundant confidence in Tufts’ ability to take its place among the nation’s best universities.

Through your leadership of the Board, you created a new culture of philanthropy at Tufts that now permeates the university. You raised the sights of our supporters and elevated the aspirations of the entire Tufts community. You applied your considerable expertise in finance to help build a strong endowment for the benefit of great students and great faculty. Everyone on Wall Street who knows you – and there are many – also knows Tufts, because of the genuine pride and delight you take in this university and its achievements.

You will be remembered forever on our campus for things tangible – the Gantcher Family Sports and Convocation Center, the Alice and Nathan Gantcher Chair in Judaic Studies – and perhaps even more importantly, things intangible: the professionalism and commitment that you brought to the Board of Trustees, the strategies that you championed to advance Tufts academically, financially and physically, and the deep love of Tufts that drove all of your actions. Tufts today is a fundamentally different place because of your leadership, and for this we are deeply grateful. Nathan Gantcher, it is an honor to award to you the degree Doctor of Business Administration, honoris causa.