s the new Harvard Law School Association president, Peter C. Krause ’74 has set a goal to engage international alumni across the globe.
It’s even better when they are so engaged that they call him.
So he was particularly pleased when his phone rang recently and on the line was an alumnus from China who wanted to consult with him about organizing an event for HLS graduates in Beijing.
Krause says the HLSA must continue to encourage its domestic clubs and shared interest groups to conduct more panels and programs for alumni. “That’s our strength and our franchise,” he says. However, he also emphasizes spending more time and effort trying to get clubs and shared interest groups and special events organized outside the United States. “The HLSA is already well-established in Western Europe,” he says, and there are tremendous opportunities for growth in Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Africa, and South America.
Krause’s international focus for the HLSA mirrors what he accomplished in his career, helping the domestic firms he was part of—the law firm Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton, the financial services firm Morgan Stanley, and most recently the merchant bank Greenhill & Co.—to expand internationally.
He became a student at HLS after serving in the Army, with the goal of practicing real estate and corporate law. His experience included running the Lodging and Leisure Group at Morgan Stanley and chairing Greenhill & Co.’s Barrow Street Real Estate Funds.
Krause says that his HLS degree has propelled him in his career as well as his community and charitable endeavors. Now retired, he has been devoted to Harvard for many years, including serving on the HLS Dean’s Advisory Board for 15 years under three deans—Robert Clark ’72, Elena Kagan ’86 and Martha Minow—and as chair of the Harvard Law School Annual Fund.
Krause has also served as national co-chair of the Harvard College Parents Fund for 10 years with his wife, Alice. Their three children and two sons-in-law all hold degrees from Harvard College. Two children are also HLS graduates: Christina Henderson ’09 and Peter C. Krause Jr. ’12. So it’s not surprising that Krause is committed to inspiring young alumni to become more active in the association—even before they graduate.
“We definitely want to do more to get the current students feeling they’re members of the HLSA from day one as 1Ls,” he says. “We want young members bringing their energy and enthusiasm to the HLSA.”
To help spark that enthusiasm, Krause will continue to increase HLSA’s social media presence and also revitalize clubs and shared interest groups and encourage the start of new ones.
Krause acknowledges that the success of the HLSA is based on the efforts of its 38,000 members and its prior leaders. He says his predecessor Salvo Arena LL.M. ’00 “brought tremendous vision and drive to the position.” Managing partner of the New York City office of the Italian firm Chiomenti Studio Legale, Arena is now chair of the HLSA International Committee.
That is just the type of dynamic involvement Krause hopes to foster in the next generation of graduates. And as the school’s 2017 bicentennial approaches, he sees wonderful opportunities for alumni engagement.