Gifford Combs misses his thirty-third Commencement

A broken ankle snaps a Commencement streak.

Even in the hospital, Gifford Combs celebrated Commencement.

Gifford Combs ’80 took an unfortunate tumble on some steps in midtown Manhattan a week and a half before Commencement, breaking his left ankle in two places. He has been hospitalized since.

Because Combs had attended every Commencement since the spring of his freshman year (except in 1982, when he was living in China), his Weld Hall and Eliot House roommate, David Scheinberg ’80, offered to recruit a team of classmates to wheel Combs and his hospital bed into Tercentenary Theatre for today’s ceremony. Combs decided he’d better stay in bed in New York, where his ankle is on the mend, but the photograph he forwarded shows where his heart lies. And, he reported, his surgeon, John P. Lyden ’61, is in Cambridge this week, celebrating his fiftieth reunion.

 

Related topics

You might also like

A History of Harvard Magazine

Harvard’s independent alumni magazine—at 127 years old 

Parks and Rec Comedy Writer Aisha Muharrar Gets Serious about Grief

With Loved One, the Harvard grad and Lampoon veteran makes her debut as a novelist.

A New Prescription for Youth Mental Health

Kenyan entrepreneur Tom Osborn ’20 reimagines care for a global crisis.

Most popular

What Trump Means for John Roberts’s Legacy

Executive power is on the docket at the Supreme Court.

Pablo Picasso Exhibit Opens at Harvard Art Museums

Harvard Art Museums exhibit on depictions of combat and revolution

This Harvard Scientist Is Changing the Future of Genetic Diseases

David Liu has pioneered breakthroughs in gene editing, creating new therapies that may lead to cures.

Explore More From Current Issue

A vibrant bar scene with tropical decor, featuring patrons sitting on high stools.

Best Bars for Seasonal Drinks and Snacks in Greater Boston

Gathering spots that warm and delight us  

Wadsworth House with green shutters and red brick chimneys, surrounded by trees and other buildings.

Wadsworth House Nears 300

The building is a microcosm of Harvard’s history—and the history of the United States.

Six women interact in a theatrical setting, one seated and being comforted by others.

A (Truly) Naked Take on Second-Wave Feminism

Playwright Bess Wohl’s Liberation opens on Broadway.