Oldest Graduates

Frances Downing Vaughan ’44 and Donald F. Brown ’30 (holding a photo of himself on his graduation day)
George Barner ’29, the oldest class representative

The oldest graduates of Harvard and Radcliffe present on Commencement Day were 90-year-old Frances Downing Vaughan ’44 of Cambridge, and 103-year-old Donald F. Brown ’30 of Stow, Massachusetts. The oldest class representative to attend was 103-year-old George Barner ’29 of Kennebunk, Maine. All were recognized at the afternoon ceremony. Vaughan, a poet who was named First Poet Laureate at the Harvard Institute for Learning in Retirement, where she has taken classes and taught, said that she loved Cambridge and that the day had been wonderful. “I do miss people I’ve seen here before who are not here now,” she said in an interview. “There is something about the continuity with the past that keeps us going.”

According to University records, the oldest alumni also include: Edith M. Van Saun ’29, 105, of Sykesville, Maryland; Ruth Leavitt Fergenson ’28, 104, of Rockville, Maryland; Rawson L. Wood ’30, 103, of Center Harbor, New Hampshire; Elliott C. Carter ’30, 103, of New York City; Bertha O. Fineberg ’31, 103, of Gloucester, Massachusetts; Sara White Goldberg ’29, 103, of Haverford, Pennsylvania; Frances Pass Adelson ’30, 103, of Brookline, Massachusetts; Evelyn Sigel Baer ’30, 102, of Montpelier, Vermont; Mary Anglemyer ’31, 102, of Medford, New Jersey; and Erhart R. Muller ’32, 102, of Harvard, Massachusetts.

Click here for the July-August 2012 issue table of contents

Sub topics

You might also like

A New Voice

Ann Kim Ha’s poignant children’s books

The Shape of Sound

Jessica Shand blends math and music.

Small Talk, From Afar

Student ham enthusiasts turn back time.

Most popular

Rebecca Henderson: Does Capitalism Need to be Reimagined?

How to reform capitalism to confront climate change and extreme inequality, with economist and McArthur University Professor Rebecca Henderson

The New Gender Gaps

What to do as men and boys fall behind

An Original Magna Carta, Hidden in Plain Sight

A rare original surfaces at Harvard at an “almost providential” moment. 

Explore More From Current Issue

Harvard Commencement and Alumni Events 2025

Harvard Commencement and Alumni Events 2025

Why Taxi Drivers Don’t Die of Alzheimer’s

Explaining taxi and ambulance drivers’ protection against Alzheimer’s disease.