Three Cheers

A salute to a writer and two artists who served readers especially well in 2022

We’re proud to recognize three contributors to Harvard Magazine for outstanding work on readers’ behalf during 2022, and to confer a $1,000 honorarium on each.


Lincoln Caplan
Photograph by Susan L. Carney

The McCord Writing Prize (honoring David T.W. McCord ’21, A.M. ’22, L.H.D. ’56, and his prose and verse composed for the magazine and the Harvard College Fund) goes to contributing editor and journalist Lincoln Caplan ’72, J.D. ’76, a visiting lecturer and senior research scholar at Yale Law School. He profiled Radcliffe Institute dean and civil rights historian Tomiko Brown-Nagin (January-February) and Elena Kagan, associate justice of the Supreme Court (November-December; see reader reactions, beginning on page 2); reviewed important books on the Constitution (January-February) and Justice Felix Frankfurter (September-October); and provided same-day analysis of the oral argument in the affirmative action admissions case now being decided by the Court (see harvardmag.com/admissions-arguments-22)—an astonishingly productive year in these pages.


Matthew G. Wood
Photograph courtesy of Matthew G. Wood

Nancy Walecki’s reporting on economic mobility (“The Upward Mobility Problem,” May-June) led to East Mississippi Community College and the Golden Triangle Development nonprofit in that state. University of Alabama photographer Matthew G. Wood captured riveting portraits of Gary Jones and Fabian Ryan, whose studies are equipping them for in-demand careers. These powerful images underlined the connection between Harvard scholars’ research on community colleges and the very real-world implications, from Mississippi to Boston’s Bunker Hill. We salute Wood for his work behind the lens.


Dan Page
Photograph courtesy of Dan Page

Illustrator Dan Page, based near Toronto, is unusually adept at bringing abstract ideas to visual life. We have featured his work numerous times, including past cover assignments, and are pleased to honor him, again, for his creative, clear depiction of long COVID as an enveloping labyrinth in the instantly recognizable shape of a coronavirus—the September-October cover art accompanying Jonathan Shaw’s feature.

It was a pleasure to publish their distinguished work, and we are delighted to thank these superb professionals.

—The Editors

Related topics

You might also like

Resculpting an Empire, Through Kitchen Scraps

Artists Enzo Camacho and Ami Lien turn a colonial symbol from Cambodia inside out.

Boston Ballet’s Ming Min Hui on Changing Audiences and Timothée Chalamet

The outgoing executive director and Harvard Business School graduate went from dancing The Nutcracker to growing a ballet company.

Padimut at Harvard

A rare Egyptian mummy case is on display at the Harvard Museum of the Ancient Near East.

Most popular

How Philosophy at Harvard Saved Itself

As humanities shrink across higher education, one department is flourishing. Is its success a fluke, or a roadmap?

Three Harvard Alumni and a Former Postdoc Named MacArthur Fellows

A labor economist, an organic chemist, a physicist, and a memory researcher were honored with 2026 “genius” grants.

Harvard Stabilizes Finances With Strong Endowment Returns, Philanthropy

Small operating surplus is dwarfed by reduced federal research support and endowment tax liabilities.

Explore More From Current Issue

A girl in blue boots stands on a cliff, holding a leash attached to a glowing, digital dog.

Establishing legal responsibility for autonomous agents

Two fans celebrate in front of a TV showing a football game.

Researchers at Harvard Kennedy School say yes.

Panoramic view of Harvard University with autumn foliage and a river under a cloudy sky.

The University is expanding industry ties and investing its own funds to support research, but neither will replace lost federal dollars.