S. Allen Counter Has Died

The director of the Harvard Foundation passed away after a brief illness.

S. Allen Counter has died after a brief illness. Counter was the inaugural and longtime director of the Harvard Foundation for Intercultural and Race Relations, and was a part-time professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School. His speech at the Phi Beta Kappa ceremony in 2015 was covered in this magazine. A brief obituary appears on the Harvard College website.

An example from the magazine’s archives of how his work changed Harvard appears in this article describing how the Harvard Foundation began commissioning oil portraits of minority and female Harvardians for display on campus.
 

 

 

Read more articles by Jonathan Shaw

You might also like

Ronny Chieng is Harvard’s Class Day Speaker

The comedian, actor, and The Daily Show correspondent will address the 2026 College graduating class on May 27.

Harvard Data Trained This AI Model

“Talkie” is a large language model trained on only pre-1931 public domain content from Harvard libraries.

Harvard Stem Cell Institute Names New Faculty Co-Director

Biology professor Lee Rubin is a leading expert on neurogenerative diseases.

Most popular

Harvard Faculty Approve a Cap on A Grades

Reforms to reduce grade inflation will take effect in the fall of 2027.

Meet Harvard’s 2026 Student Commencement Speakers

Two undergraduates and a Ph.D. candidate will address the graduating class on May 28.

Harvard Alumni and Faculty Win Six Pulitzer Prizes

Winners include Jill Lepore, Bess Wohl, Pablo Torre, and Hannah Natanson.

Explore More From Current Issue

A glowing orange sun with a star and a trailing gas cloud in space.

A Harvard Astrophysicist Explains the Bizarre Behavior of a Supergiant Star

The dimming and rapid rotation of Betelgeuse may be caused by a hidden companion.

Woman with long hair, smiling, wearing a black sweater, in a textured beige background.

For This Poet, AI is a Writing Partner

Sasha Stiles trained a chatbot on her manuscripts. Now, her poems rewrite themselves.

Woman in historical dress standing in front of green foliage, smiling brightly.

This Harvard Graduate Brings Women of the Revolution to Life

Historical reenactor Lauren Shear reveals tricks of the trade for playing Tory loyalists, Revolutionary poets, and more.