Arthur M. Sackler Building and Arthur M. Sackler Museum

In October 2022, the Harvard College Overdose Prevention and Education Students submitted a proposal to dename the Arthur M. Sackler Building and the Arthur M. Sackler Museum. The petition received additional support in a separate submission from Museum curators and staff. Central to these calls for denaming was the role of drug manufacturer Purdue Pharma in the global opioid epidemic. Arthur M. Sackler and his brothers purchased pharmaceutical company Purdue Frederick in 1952. Following his death in 1987, members of the Sackler family established successor Purdue Pharma, which introduced the opioid painkiller Oxycontin to the market in 1996.

Following an initial administrative review of the proposal, a committee of Harvard faculty and administrators was formed to consider denaming the spaces bearing Arthur M. Sackler’s name, in accordance with the University’s procedures for handling denaming requests. The committee engaged in a thorough review of the points raised by the petitioners, including Arthur Sackler’s role in the development of controversial pharmaceutical marketing practices and his alleged connection to scandals involving fictitious physician testimonials and the ethical compromise of an FDA official. The committee also took up the question of whether Arthur Sackler bears responsibility for Purdue’s development and marketing of Oxycontin, which was introduced nine years after his death.

Informed by research and review of relevant literature, the committee found that while Arthur M. Sackler’s legacy is complex and debatable, the petition did not meet the standard for denaming under Harvard’s procedures for handling denaming requests. In its report, the committee noted that it was “not persuaded by the proposal’s arguments that denaming is appropriate because Arthur Sackler’s name is tainted by association with other members of the Sackler family or because Arthur Sackler shares responsibility for the opioid crisis due to his having developed aggressive pharmaceutical marketing techniques that others misused after his death.” At the request of President Garber, who chaired the review committee during his tenure as provost, members of the Harvard Corporation considered the committee’s recommendation not to remove the Arthur M. Sackler name. In July, 2024, the Corporation accepted the committee’s recommendation. Visitors to the building and museum are invited to read the committee’s findings, linked above, to learn more about Arthur M. Sackler and the decision.