Berklee College Of Music Receives Largest Gift Ever

When 84-year-old entrepreneur and corporate engineer Oliver Dyer Colvin Jr. died in the summer of 2011, he left behind an enormous sum of money earmarked for Berklee College of Music. His $8.1 million gift, as stipulated in his will, is the largest ever made to the Boston institution.

Colvin attended countless concerts at the Berklee Performance Center. In a news release Thursday, school President Roger Brown expressed his glee over the music-lover’s generosity, saying, “He has helped us guarantee that the next generation of talented musicians will continue to advance the jazz tradition he enjoyed so much.” Berklee will honor the gift by naming a large recital hall after the benefactor.

Colvin was a naval officer in the Korean War and went on to work at Sylvania Electric Products and the International Telephone and Telegraph Corp. He later served as chairman for the Cargocaire Engineering Corp. in Amesbury.