Six alumni have received the Harvard Alumni Association’s HAA Awards for their outstanding service to the University:
Janet Nezhad Band ’83, M.B.A. ’89, J.D. ’90, of New York City, a three-time recipient of the Albert H. Gordon ’23 Award for her commitment to the University, has served on each of her class’s reunion-gift committees in addition to co-chairing her thirtieth reunion. Since 1999, she has chaired her class’s associates committee, and since 2005 has served on the Harvard College Fund executive committee. Band previously served as an HAA elected director and chaired the HAA awards committee.
David Battat ’91, of New York City, is a longtime College admissions interviewer, co-chairs the New York City schools and scholarships committee, and serves on the board of the Harvard Club of New York Foundation. Chair of the HAA Committee to Nominate Overseers and Elected Directors, he is also a member of the Committee for the Happy Observance of Commencement and co-founder and vice president of the Harvard Alumni Disaster Preparedness Team.
Marion Dry ’73, of Winchester, Massachusetts, co-founded and chairs ClassACT HR73 (Class Achieving Change Together—see “Changing the World,” September-October 2018, page 74), the nonprofit service initiative that addresses local, national, and international issues. It created the Benazir Bhutto ’73 Leadership Program, which sponsors a Harvard Kennedy School fellowship for mid-career leaders from predominantly Muslim countries. Dry has also been active in class reunions and fundraising (including as a member of the 1973 Gift Committee and co-chair of her thirtieth reunion).
Roger A. Fairfax Jr. ’94, J.D. ’98, of Washington, D.C., has been a member of the HAA nominating committee and a Harvard Club of Washington, D.C., board member. He previously served as an HAA elected director, treasurer, and member-at-large on the HAA executive committee, and as an alumni interviewer. During his tenure as treasurer, he chaired a strategic-planning task force.
Marlene Rehkamp O’Brien ’82, J.D. ’85, of Wellesley, Massachusetts, has led alumni and class-reunion activities encompassing Harvard and Radcliffe, including as president of the Radcliffe Club of New York, vice president of the Radcliffe College Alumnae Association, a member of the HAA board of directors, and as an alumna interviewer. As a member of the Harvard Club of Boston board of governors, she founded a faculty speaker series, and her class activities include co-chairing reunion-related committees.
Margaret M. Wang ’09, of the Republic of Singapore and New York City, served as the 2018-19 HAA president and in numerous other roles on its board of directors. She has been a member of the HAA nominating committee and the Harvard College Fund Associates committee, as well as of her class-reunion and gift committees. She is now part of the Office of the Arts (OFA) Steering Committee for Strategic Planning and on the board of trustees for the Harvard Club of New York City.
