
Letters
Cambridge 02138
First Amendment, slavery's reach, energy options...
July-August 2008

Features
Unequal America
Causes and consequences of the wide—and growing—gap between rich and poor
Eye on the Universe
The cosmic drama, as seen from a vantage in space: Harvard astronomers highlight important images taken by the Hubble Space Telescope
Maxim Gorky
Brief life of a great enigma, the Russian author and political propagandist born Alexei Maksimovich Peshkov: 1868-1936...
A Plague Reborn
The fight against an ancient scourge shifts to new battlegrounds...
RIGHT NOW Harvard research and ideas
The Seductions of Snooping
Historian of science Kristie Macrakis's book on spying techniques used by communist East Germany's secret police.
Raiders Rehabilitated
Harvard Business School professor Josh Lerner and coauthors offer a revisionist view of corporate raiders and their Gordon Gekko image after reviewing 5,000 buyouts...
What Stress Reveals
Biologist Susan Lindquist investigates how HSP90 (heat-shock protein 90), a protein chaperone, provides a molecular mechanism that may help explain punctuated equilibrium in evolution...
John Harvard's Journal University news
University Magic
At a time of war and recession, Commencement takes stock of nation, University, and graduates' lives...
Honoris Causa
Three women and seven men received honorary degrees at Commencement.
Commencement Confetti
An omnium-gathering of notes and statistics, vital and otherwise...
Talk, Part I: On Service to Country
President Faust and an Iraq war veteran on graduates' opportunities...
Talk, Part II: "Life is Not a Check-List"
Fed chair Bernanke, J.K. Rowling, and President Faust on how to live well...
A Giant's Gift
David Rockefeller gives $100 million for international and arts education...
Open Access to Art
Student study centers in the renovated Fogg Museum...
Joanna Aizenberg
A bioengineer learns from sponges...
English Evolves--and Reverts
Speaking on behalf of the department he chairs, James Engell moved that it shed its current title (English and American literature and language) in favor of a streamlined one (English).
On the University's Agenda
University leaders in various forums outlined Harvard priorities and impending business concerning Allston, a new science initiative, and the University’s international aims.
University People
On April 15, vice president for finance Elizabeth Mora, Harvard’s chief financial officer, “announced her intention to step down” as of mid May.
Running Radcliffe
President Drew Faust on April 28 appointed Higgins professor of natural sciences Barbara J. Grosz to the deanship of the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study (RIAS).
Public Health Horizons
When Barry Bloom looks around at the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH), he sees an institution that is more internationally engaged, more generous to its students, and home to more prizewinning researchers than when he arrived 10 years ago.
Endowments--Under a Tax?
The rising value of endowments belonging to private institutions of higher education is attracting critical political attention—a special challenge for Harvard, whose $34.9-billion endowment is much the largest.
What Makes (and Remakes) a House
The Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS), in planning a major renovation of the 12 undergraduate residential Houses, has appointed a House Program Planning...
Yesterday's News
Headlines from Harvard history
A "Pause" and Progress in FAS
During spring faculty meetings, dean Michael D. Smith explained his approach to leading the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS), with important implications for the growth of professorial ranks.
A Dominant Dean
Reflecting on the service of Jeremy R. Knowles, two-time dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences
A Communal Campus?
President Drew Faust on April 24 appointed a University steering committee to explore improvements to Harvard’s Cambridge campus, with the aim...
Brevia
Short takes on recent news
Education by Office Hour
The Harvard I know today began in the most unlikely of ways: with a cup of tea, served loose-leaf in a ceramic mug, as I sat at a table littered...
What Next for Ivy League Sports?
Ivy league executive director Jeff Orleans to retire
Montage Books, creative arts, performance and more
An Argument for Music
Critic Alex Ross keeps "classical" music current...
Two Musical Neighborhoods
Harvard professor Lewis Lockwood and the Julliard String Quartet have collaborated on Inside Beethoven's Quartets: History, Performance, Interpretation...
Anthologizing Yourself
Mary Jo Salter keeps her own (and others') poetry alive...
Chapter & Verse
Correspondence on not-so-famous lost words...
Thoroughly Eclectic
Performer Eisa Davis, now starring on Broadway in Passing Strange, stays open to her many artistic passions, including playwriting (Bulrusher, Angela's Mixtape) and singing (her devut album is Something Else)...
Off the Shelf
Recent books with Harvard connections...
From Soaps to Solos
Operatic bass Ethan Herschenfeld sings around the world, but also enjoys acting on TV (Damages)...
Almuni Harvardians far and wide
In Their Nation's Service
Men of the College class of 1951 share lessons learned while doing their duty.
Set to Commence
The marshals of the College class of 2008 gathered with classmates for the Baccalaureate service on Tuesday, June 3.
And the Winners Are...
The names of the newly elected members of the Board of Overseers and directors of the Harvard Alumni Association (HAA) were announced at the association’s annual meeting.
Harvard Medalists
Three people received the Harvard Medal for outstanding service, and were publicly honored by President Drew Faust.
Centennial Medalists
The Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Centennial Medal, first awarded in 1989 on the occasion of the school’s hundredth anniversary, honors alumni who have made contributions to society that emerged from their graduate study at Harvard.
Cambridge Scholars
Four seniors have won Harvard Cambridge scholarships to study at Cambridge University during the 2008-2009 academic year.
Class Gifts
Why is it, University Treasurer James F. Rothenberg ’68, M.B.A. ’70, asked his Tercentenary Theatre audience on Thursday afternoon...
The Senior Celebrants
Two 99-year-olds—Frances Pass Addelson ’30, of Brookline, Massachusetts, and George Barner ’29, Ed ’32, L ’33, of Kennebunk, Maine—the oldest...
Save the Date
“From the Closet to a Place at the Table: Celebrating 25 Years of the Harvard Gay & Lesbian Caucus” is the first-ever all-school...