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May-June 2003
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BreviaGlobal Perspective At a time of war, shifting international alliances, and reassessment of the gains from "globalization" of the world economy, the Harvard Alumni Association's guest speaker on Commencement afternoon will be Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de León, who concluded his six-year term as president of Mexico in December 2000. An economist, Zedillo was, successively, Mexico's budget and public-education secretary prior to being elected to the presidency. He is now resident at Yale, from which he earned two master's degrees and his doctorate: effective last September, he was appointed director of the Yale Center for the Study of Globalization, and professor in the field of international economics and politics.
On April 3, Elena Kagan, J.D. '86, was appointed dean of Harvard Law School, beginning July 1. Kagan joined the faculty as professor of law in 2001. Details will be published in the next issue. Tuition Takes Off The bill for tuition, room, board, and fees at Harvard College in the 2003-2004 academic year will be $37,928. That is 5.5 percent, or $1,928, higher than in the current year, and a continuing escalation from the 3.5 percent and 4.9 percent increases imposed during the prior two years. Despite minimal inflation as measured by the Consumer Price Index, this year's increase, the highest in a decade, is driven by the factors common to wage- and benefits-dominated service enterprises like educational institutions. Public colleges and universities nationwide are struggling to compensate for reduced state budgets. Private schools are coping with rising personnel costs and ebbing gifts and endowment payouts, even as they invest in new facilities and hire faculty members (see "CFO for Tighter Times"): in Harvard's case, William C. Kirby, dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, cited the costs of new science facilities, international education, and overhauling undergraduate education. In keeping with the College's need-blind admissions policy, Kirby said financial aid will be increased.
President Bush has named Freed professor of economics N. Gregory Mankiw to chair his Council of Economic Advisers. The appointment of Mankiw, author of the bestselling undergraduate economics textbook, drew much attention because of his past criticisms of supply-side economics and his expressed belief that large government deficits increase interest rates, possibly dampening private economic activity.... Baker professor of economics Martin S. Feldstein has been designated president-elect of the American Economics Association for a term that begins next January. Ph.D. Progress Graduate School of Arts and Sciences dean Peter Ellison reported in March that changes in graduate financial aid implemented since 1997 have boosted the yield (acceptance of offers of admission) in the humanities and social sciences from 53 percent to 65 percent last year. More recent changes in support for science doctoral students boosted the yield there from 49 percent to 58 percent. From 1997 to 2002, applications to GSAS increased 50 percent, to nearly 10,000, and selectivity in the humanities and social sciences declined to 9 percent — lower than for Harvard College. Stipends have risen more than 50 percent, to $17,600 for the academic year, recently augmented by summer research funding; have been extended to almost all students; and have been guaranteed to include third- and fourth-year support, usually by means of teaching fellowships.
Nota Bene Character Capabilities. The Harvard Online Library Information System — HOLLIS, as the principal "catalog" is known — can now search for Chinese, Japanese, and Korean materials in their original scripts. Users must have computers and keyboards adapted for CJK scripts. The enhanced system, which provides access to more than a half million research items, complements the ability to search in romanized forms of the three languages.
Business Bookshelf. Harvard Business School Press has established a new imprint, Benchmark Books, with the nonprofit advisory group The Conference Board. The titles, aimed at senior executives, will begin next year with The New Consumer Guidebook and The Business Ethics Guidebook, both based on Conference Board research. Last fall, the press established a partnership with the Kennedy School of Government for a new line of books on public leadership.
Graduates' Gurus. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences students selected three faculty members for excellence in cultivating their students' academic and professional skills and attending to their personal well-being. Winners of the Mendelsohn Excellence in Mentoring Awards are Max H. Bazerman, Straus professor of business administration; Ann W. Rowland, assistant professor of English and American literature and language; and Joan V. Ruderman, Nelson professor of cell biology. Collections Closing. The Harvard Collections store, created in 1997 as an anchor for the retail arcade in Holyoke Center and a showcase for merchandise derived from University museum holdings (see "If at First...," November-December 1997, page 68), closed for financial reasons March 31. The space will be leased to a new tenent.
 
 
 
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