The Senior Seniors

Marjorie Thomas and Donald F. Brown

Photograph by Jim Harrison

George Barner

The oldest graduates of Harvard and Radcliffe present on Commencement day were Marjorie (Prince) Thomas ’42, 92, of Bedford, Massachusetts (accompanied by her husband, Edward Thomas ’41, who was celebrating his seventieth reunion), and Donald F. Brown ’30, Ph.D. ’55, 102, of Stow, Massachusetts. Both were recognized at the afternoon ceremony. (The oldest class representative was George Barner ’29, 102, of Kennebunk, Maine, who is three and a half weeks younger than Donald Brown.) Marjorie and Edward Thomas were married while she was still at Radcliffe College. Because he was in the U.S. Navy at the time, she left college to be with him, but more than three decades later she returned to campus “because I had made a promise to my mother that I would graduate.” She received her bachelor’s degree in 1978.

According to University records, the oldest alumni include: Halford J. Pope ’25, M.B.A. ’27, 107, of Hilton Head, South Carolina; Rose Depoyan ’26, 105, of Brockton, Massachusetts; Edith M. Van Saun ’29, 104, of Sykesville, Maryland; Priscilla Bartol Grace ’58, 104, of Woods Hole, Massachusetts; Ruth Leavitt Fergenson ’28, 103, of Rockville, Maryland; Dorothy P. Collins ’30, 103, of Hyde Park, Massachusetts; Rawson L. Wood ’30, 102, of Center Harbor, New Hampshire; Elliott C. Carter ’30, 102, of New York City; and Bertha Fineberg ’31, 102, of Gloucester, Massachusetts.

Click here for the July-August 2011 issue table of contents

You might also like

Two Momentous Faculty Retirements

Arthur Kleinman and Harry Lewis depart the classroom.

Five Questions with Cass R. Sunstein

The Harvard Law professor and constitutional scholar on what Star Wars can tell us about today’s Supreme Court

Harvard Releases Antisemitism and Anti-Muslim Task Force Reports

University publishes findings from thorough examinations of campus conditions.

Most popular

Two Momentous Faculty Retirements

Arthur Kleinman and Harry Lewis depart the classroom.

Harvard Renames Diversity Office

The decision follows pressure from the Trump administration to eliminate DEI practices. 

Harvard Releases Antisemitism and Anti-Muslim Task Force Reports

University publishes findings from thorough examinations of campus conditions.

Explore More From Current Issue

The Trump Administration's Impact on Higher Education

Unprecedented federal actions against research funding, diversity, speech, and more

89664

Jessica Shand—Math and Music at Harvard

Jessica Shand blends math and music.

89677

Paper Peepshows at Harvard's Baker Library

How “paper peepshows” brought distant realms to life

89684