Jay Owen Light (October 3, 1941October 15, 2022) was an American academic administrator and corporate director. He served as the ninth dean of the

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate business school of Harvard University, a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. It is consistently ranked among the top business schools in the world and offers a large full-time MBA p ...

Early life

Light was born in

Lorain, Ohio Lorain () is a city in Lorain County, Ohio, United States. The municipality is located in northeastern Ohio on Lake Erie, at the mouth of the Black River, about 30 miles west of Cleveland. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 65 ...

, on October 3, 1941. His father, James, worked as a supervisor at a steel plant; his mother, Marian Leisey, was a high school teacher. Light grew up in a house on

Lake Erie Lake Erie ( "eerie") is the fourth largest lake by surface area of the five Great Lakes in North America and the eleventh-largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also has t ...

and attended

Lorain High School Lorain High School is part of Lorain City School District in Lorain, Ohio and was founded in 1876, beginning as a two-year high school course. In 1879, the first graduating class consisted of three members. By 1883, the high school curriculum wa ...

in his hometown. Aspiring to be an astronaut, he studied engineering physics at

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

, graduating with a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

in 1963. He was a member of the

Quill and Dagger Quill and Dagger is a senior honor society at Cornell University. It is often recognized as one of the most prominent societies of its type, along with Skull and Bones and Scroll and Key at Yale University. In 1929, ''The New York Times'' stated t ...

society during his time at the university. He then worked at the

Jet Propulsion Laboratory The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is a federally funded research and development center and NASA field center in the City of La Cañada Flintridge, California, United States. Founded in the 1930s by Caltech researchers, JPL is owned by NASA an ...

, where he headed a space-mission analysis team. He later undertook doctoral studies at

's (HBS) joint program in decision and control theory, and was awarded a

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common Academic degree, degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields ...

in 1970.

Career

After obtaining his doctorate, Light became part of the HBS faculty. In 1972, he became the first faculty member to be conferred the inaugural Excellence in Teaching Award, in recognition of his work in the first-year

Master of Business Administration A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accounti ...

(MBA) program. His students included Seth Klarman and

Jamie Dimon James Dimon (; born March 13, 1956) is an American billionaire businessman and banker who has been the chairman and chief executive officer of JPMorgan Chase – the largest of the big four American banks – since 2005. Dimon was previously on ...

. He was credited with formulating a new method of teaching capital markets, co-authoring the book ''The Financial System'' with W.L. White, as well as extensive course materials. Light was a member of the HBS Finance Unit (later becoming its chair), as well as senior associate dean for faculty planning, and for planning and development. He was also a director of the

Harvard Management Company The Harvard University endowment (valued at $53.2 billion ) is the largest academic endowment in the world. Its value increased by over 10 billion dollars in fiscal year 2021, ending in the largest sum in its history. Along with Harvard's pension ...

, which was responsible for investing the university's endowment. Light became interim dean of HBS on August 1, 2005. He was appointed by Lawrence Summers,

President of Harvard University The president of Harvard University is the chief academic administration, administrator of Harvard University and the ''Ex officio member, ex officio'' president of the President and Fellows of Harvard College, Harvard Corporation. Each is appoi ...

, to the post on a full-time basis eight months later on April 24, despite being a

dark horse A dark horse is a previously lesser-known person or thing that emerges to prominence in a situation, especially in a competition involving multiple rivals, or a contestant that on paper should be unlikely to succeed but yet still might. Origin Th ...

candidate. During his tenure, he oversaw the conclusion of a $600 million capital campaign that raised money towards student financial aid, hiring faculty, technology initiatives, and campus infrastructure. He was credited with acting swiftly to manage expenses and produce added revenue during the

financial crisis in 2008 Finance is the study and discipline of money, currency and capital assets. It is related to, but not synonymous with economics, the study of production, distribution, and consumption of money, assets, goods and services (the discipline of fina ...

, leaving HBS (and the wider university) in a better financial state. The school expanded its international presence during his deanship, opening a research center in India (2006) before inaugurating the Harvard Center Shanghai four years later. HBS introduced courses that saw MBA students travel to Asia, Africa, and South America, in addition to a joint degree program with

Harvard Medical School Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the graduate medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical Area of Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is one of the oldest medical schools in the United States and is consi ...

. He also laid the foundations for

Harvard Innovation Labs Harvard Innovation Labs (i-Lab) is an institution which aims to promote team-based and entrepreneurial activities among Harvard students, faculty, entrepreneurs, and members of the Allston and Greater Boston communities. The i-Lab's mission is to ...

, which opened a year after his retirement, and oversaw the refurbishment of the

Baker Library A baker is a tradesperson who bakes and sometimes sells breads and other products made of flour by using an oven or other concentrated heat source. The place where a baker works is called a bakery. History Ancient history Since grains ha ...

. Light served as HBS dean until July 1, 2010, when he was succeeded by

Nitin Nohria Nitin Nohria (born February 9, 1962) is an Indian-American academic. He was the tenth dean of Harvard Business School. He is also the George F. Baker Professor of Administration. He is a former non-executive director of Tata Sons. Early life and ...

. After retiring as dean, Light was elected to the board of directors of the Hospital Corporation of America in March 2011. He also served on the boards of

The Blackstone Group Blackstone Inc. is an American alternative investment management company based in New York City. Blackstone's private equity business has been one of the largest investors in leveraged buyouts in the last three decades, while its real estate bu ...

, and Partners HealthCare.

Personal life

Light was married to Judith Hodges until his death. They were introduced by her roommate in 1970. Together, they had two children. He resided in South Dartmouth and

Jupiter Island, Florida The town of Jupiter Island is located on the barrier island called Jupiter Island, in Martin County, Florida, United States; the town is part of Florida's Treasure Coast. The town is located next to the unincorporated community of Hobe Sound. ...

, during his later years. Light died on October 15, 2022, at his home in South Dartmouth. He was 81, and suffered from

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ' ...

prior to his death.

References

External links

Harvard Business School biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Light, Jay O. 1941 births 2022 deaths Businesspeople from Ohio Cornell University College of Engineering alumni Deaths from cancer in Massachusetts Deaths from leukemia Harvard Business School faculty People from Belmont, Massachusetts People from Lorain, Ohio Directors of Harvard Management Company Harvard Business School alumni HCA Healthcare people Business school deans