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...

Two 99-year-olds—Frances Pass Addelson ’30, of Brookline, Massachusetts, and George Barner ’29, Ed ’32, L ’33, of Kennebunk, Maine—the oldest graduates present on Commencement day, were saluted during the afternoon ceremony by HAA president Jonathan L.S. Byrnes. He noted also that 106-year-old Albert H. Gordon ’23, M.B.A. ’25, LL.D. ’77, of New York City, had hoped to come celebrate his eighty-fifth reunion, but was unable to attend.

Photographs by Stu Rosner

George Barner

Photographs by Jim Harrison

Frances Pass Addelson

According to University records, the oldest alumni, apart from Gordon, include: Walter J. Seward, J.D. ’24, 111, of West Orange, New Jersey; Marion Coppelman Epstein ’24, 105, of Boston; M. Louise Macnair ’25, 105, of Cambridge; Halford J. Pope ’25, M.B.A. ’27, 104, of Hilton Head Island, South Carolina; Edward Gipstein ’27, 103, of New London, Connecticut; Marjorie B. Walden ’26, 102, of Needham, Massachusetts; Rose Depoyan ’26, Ed.M. ’38, 101, of Brockton, Massachusetts, and Edith M. Van Saun ’29, 101, of Sykesville, Maryland.

Related topics

You might also like

Harvard Law School Announces $31.4 Million Donation

The school’s largest-ever gift comes after a year of record fundraising.

Harvard Alumni Win Two 2026 Nobel Prizes

Karl Deisseroth revolutionized neuroscience. Navanethem “Navi” Pillay has adjudicated cases in international courts concerning genocide.

Boston Ballet’s Ming Min Hui on Changing Audiences and Timothée Chalamet

The outgoing executive director and Harvard Business School graduate went from dancing The Nutcracker to growing a ballet company.

Most popular

Keri Russell Calls ‘The Diplomat’ a Love Letter to Public Servants

A Harvard Kennedy School event looks behind the scenes of the Netflix drama. 

To Promote Healthy Habits in Patients, Start with the Doctors

Why Harvard Medical School is training physicians to think more like coaches

How Philosophy at Harvard Saved Itself

As humanities shrink across higher education, one department is flourishing. Is its success a fluke, or a roadmap?

Explore More From Current Issue

Colorful icons representing sleep, fruit, speech, and a mind with a water lily.

Take this quiz on six healthy habits that Harvard doctors recommend

Two fans celebrate in front of a TV showing a football game.

A new Harvard Kennedy School project aims to harness the power of feral fandom.

A man with a long beard and formal attire stands next to a chalkboard with an equation.

Two tales of University greats—and an encounter with a Tiger