2021 HAA Award Winners

For outstanding service 

Six alumni have received the HAA Awards for their outstanding service to the University.


James E. Bowers

James E. Bowers, J.D. ’70, of West Hartford, Connecticut, has served as chair of the Harvard Law School (HLS) Reunion Gift Committee, and as a HLS Visiting Committee member, and vice president and treasurer of the Harvard Law School Association, among other roles. As part of the Dean’s Committee to Study the HLS Shield, he contributed to the design of a more inclusive shield this year, and in 2017 received the James Coolidge Carter Award for Distinguished Service to the HLSA and HLS.

Harold J. Burstein

Harold J. “Hal” Burstein ’86, M.D. ’90, Ph.D. ’94, of Wellesley, Massachusetts, a Harvard Medical School (HMS) professor and oncologist at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Brigham and Women’s Hospital, serves as an HMS admissions subcommittee chair. As part of the HMS Alumni Council, he helped create the Distinguished Service Award for HMS alumni, and is a member of the HMS Class of 1990 Reunion and Fundraising Committee.


Gustavo A. Herrero

Gustavo A. Herrero, M.B.A. ’76, of Buenos Aires, Argentina, was instrumental in founding the Harvard Business School’s Latin America Research Center (LARC), serving as its executive director for more than 14 years. A cofounder, former president, and longtime board member of the Harvard Club of Argentina, he also chaired the board of the Harvard-affiliated LASPAU and cofounded both the HBS Colloquium on Participant-Centered Learning and the Social Enterprise Knowledge Network consortium.

Jay G. Hooper

Jay G. Hooper ’84, of Belmont, Massachusetts, is class treasurer, and has been president, secretary, and treasurer of the Association of Harvard College Class Secretaries and Treasurers (AHCCS&T). He has co-chaired his 20th, 25th, and 35th class reunions, and participated in numerous HAA initiatives.


Susan Morris Novick

Susan Morris Novick ’85, of Old Westbury, New York, is a director of Harvard Magazine and serves on the executive committee of the Harvard Alumni in IMPACT Shared Interest Group (SIG). A member of the HAA Board of Directors since 2010, she was HAA president in 2017–2018, and is a former president of the Harvard Club of Long Island.


Deborah A. Smullyan

Deborah A. Smullyan ’72, of Milton, Massachusetts, spent 17 years editing the “Red Books” for the HAA’s Class Report Office, and has been a contributing editor at Harvard Magazine, writing alumni obituaries, since 1993. An advocate for Radcliffe alumnae, she is a founding member of the Crimson Society as well as a member of the Committee for the Happy Observance of Commencement.

Related topics

You might also like

Commencement Week Events

Harvard Commencement Events 2026

What a Key EPA Repeal Means for America’s Climate Future

A Harvard alumni panel examines the impact of the “Endangerment Finding.”

Sylvia Mathews Burwell and Michael S. Chae to Join Harvard Corporation

The alumni will fill two vacancies on the University’s governing board.

Most popular

How the American Revolution Freed a Future Abolitionist

Darby Vassall, an enslaved child freed after the Battle of Bunker Hill, dedicated his life to fighting for liberty.

America’s National Parks Are a $56 Billion Economic Engine

Harvard’s Linda Bilmes on measuring the economic value of public lands

Michael Sandel’s “The Tyranny of Merit” reviewed by Spencer Lenfield

Michael Sandel makes the case against meritocracy.

Explore More From Current Issue

A dancer in a black leotard poses gracefully in a bright studio, with mirrors reflecting her movement.

A New ‘Black Swan’ Musical Cranks Up the Tension

The creative team of the A.R.T.’s new show dish on adapting Darren Aronofsky’s thriller classic from screen to stage.

Katie Benzan stands on a basketball court holding a ball, with a hoop in the background.

How Women Are Changing the NBA

From coaching staffs to front offices, female leaders are bringing new strategies to men’s basketball.

Bronze statues of three historical figures under a stylized tree in a softly lit space.

The Costly Choice Native Americans Faced

How the Revolution reshaped indigenous New England