When David Harkins and Jerry Rosenbaum, MD, played one of their many rounds of golf together, they talked about much more than fairway conditions and their handicaps. David, an avid golfer who served on the Massachusetts General Hospital Leadership Council for Psychiatry, was curious about Dr. Rosenbaum’s work as the longtime chair of Mass General’s Psychiatry Department — what research the team was undertaking, what breakthroughs he saw on the horizon and what they needed to support their patients. Those conversations evolved into a lasting friendship and inspired the Harkins family to provide the anchor gift for the Jerrold F. Rosenbaum Endowed Chair in Psychiatry.
David passed away at age 82 in October 2023, before he could see Jordan Smoller, MD, become the inaugural incumbent of the chair in June 2025. To continue David’s legacy of service to and support innovative approaches to patient care, his wife, Sheryll, has provided a $1 million commitment — $100,000 over 10 years — in unrestricted funding to psychiatry. Along with devoting funds to areas with the greatest need, psychiatry plans to use the gift to support work in the Center for the Neuroscience of Psychedelics, where clinicians seek to: understand how psychedelics enhance the brain’s capacity for change; optimize current treatments and create new treatments for mental illness; and to make the term “treatment-resistant” obsolete.
“We’re incredibly grateful to the Harkins family for their enduring support of our department,” says Maurizio Fava, MD, chair of psychiatry for Mass General Brigham. “David was a true friend to the hospital. While we miss him terribly, we appreciate that his memory will live on through this gift to help us while we tackle the biggest clinical challenges in mental health.”
A Passion for Athletics — and Giving Back
Dr. Rosenbaum says that, in certain ways, the friendship between him and David seemed somewhat improbable. “We were a young shrink and a veteran of private equity,” he says with a laugh. The two bonded over golf, with David serving as Dr. Rosenbaum’s partner in tournaments and inviting him to Florida to play with his good friend — Boston Bruins hockey legend, Bobby Orr.
“He loved to talk about healthcare and what was going on at Mass General,” Dr. Rosenbaum adds. “We really cared about each other. And he could never resist giving me a hard time about the discount yellow putter I was using.”
That friendly banter rings true for David’s daughter, Jessica Harkins, who manages the family’s philanthropic efforts. Her father played both ice hockey and lacrosse at West Point and received All American honors in both sports, so he felt at home in sports settings. His passion for athletics extended to supporting his children and grandchildren in their endeavors. Jessica remembers watching him, in a suit and tie, shovel snow off their backyard rink in Marblehead, Massachusetts, when he got home from work at the equity firm THL. She adds that he never missed a soccer game for her or a hockey game for her brother, Jason, and David watched Jessica’s son play lacrosse at Boston University two weeks before he died.
Jessica saw David’s desire to give back kick into high gear when had a heart attack at age 50 — the same age his father was when he suffered a fatal heart attack. When his father passed, the military dismissed David early from his mandated West Point service so he could care for his three younger sisters. “That was a real life lesson for him,” she says. “When he had his heart attack, even as a very healthy guy, it triggered a lot of his desire to pay attention to what’s important and focus outward.”
Cementing a Legacy
David had always been supportive of mental health, Jessica says, and he decided to lend his voice to Mass General and Mass General Brigham’s psychiatry efforts. He played a pivotal role in forming the hospital’s Leadership Council for Psychiatry, and the family’s gift toward the Rosenbaum Chair marked one of the committee’s first major philanthropic initiatives.
With this new commitment, the Harkins family hopes to solidify David’s legacy and motivate others to support mental health breakthroughs. Sheryll was a special needs teacher for 25 years, Jessica says, so she’s seen firsthand the emotional support that children with challenges need.
“People who champion psychiatry deserve so much respect, because the work they do isn’t so simple,” Jessica says. “They give all their time and effort to something that doesn’t have a straight answer or an easy fix. Thanks to my dad’s friendship with Dr. Rosenbaum and the community at work at Mass General Brigham, we know we can trust them to use the funds where they will best serve patients.”
“These types of gifts matter,” Dr. Rosenbaum says. “They make it possible for us to drive the science forward and bring what we learn directly to our patients. I feel so lucky to have had Dave in my life, and I’m heartened that his memory will continue to have an impact.”
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