On Your Behalf

Honoring Harvard Magazine contributing writers and artists

We are proud to recognize four contributors to Harvard Magazine for their superb work on your behalf during 2023, and to confer on each a $1,000 honorarium.

James Engell
James Engell | Photograph courtesy of James Engell

Gurney professor of English literature and professor of comparative literature James Engell has been sounding the alarm about the declining humanities—within the academy and in society at large—for decades. His January-February Forum essay, “Humanists All” (page 34), is a penetrating, comprehensive exploration of what is at stake—fully worthy of the Smith-Weld Prize (in memory of A. Calvert Smith, A.B. 1914, a former secretary to the Governing Boards and executive assistant to President James Bryant Conant, and of Philip S. Weld ’36, a former president of the magazine), which honors thought-provoking writing about Harvard and higher education.

Dick Friedman
Dick Friedman | Photograph courtesy of Dick friedman

Contributing editor Dick Friedman ’73, a Sports Illustrated veteran (and 2015 Smith-Weld honorand), continues to contribute astute and frequently funny weekly dispatches during the football season. He did the Crimson’s sesquicentennial season up right with his roundups in these pages and in November-December, in “Harvard’s G.O.A.T.” (page 36), on Charlie Brickley—accompanied by an All-Crimson Team constructed with fellow football addicts Joseph Bertagna ’73, John T. Bethell ’54, and John Powers ’70. It’s a treat to celebrate Friedman’s obsession with the McCord Writing Prize (honoring the legendary prose and verse that David T.W. McCord, A.B. 1921, A.M. ’22, L.H.D. ’56, composed for these pages and for the Harvard College Fund). And to do a little something for his sidekicks, too.

Sam Falconer
Sam Falconer | Image courtesy of Same Falconer

Illustrator Sam Falconer performed the conceptually difficult, artistically vivid feat of bringing to life emerging discoveries about the human microbiome, diet, and indeed the meaning of our species: a completely successful, memorable complement to the November-December cover story, “You Are What (Your Microbes) Eat” (page 30), on the research of Rachel Carmody, associate professor of human evolutionary biology.

Jim Harrison
Jim Harrison | Photograph courtesy of Jim harrison

Long-time contributing editor Jim Harrison, a repeat honorand for memorable portraiture and other photography, outdid himself this year, with the haunting portraits accompanying the January-February cover feature, “To the Rescue” (page 25), on Harvard’s Scholars at Risk Program, among other assignments, and the technically difficult, perfect images accompanying “The Lazarus Forest” (Treasure, May-June, page 72), on the Harvard Forest’s amazing dioramas.

With our warmest thanks and congratulations,

—The Editors

You might also like

House Committee Subpoenas Harvard Over Tuition Costs

The University must turn over all requested materials related to tuition and financial aid by mid-July. 

Trump Administration Expands Harvard Student Visa Vetting

State Department tells officials to screen social media, flag private accounts as suspicious.  

News in Brief

Physician-authors address Commencement and Alumni Day, new School of Education Dean, and more

Most popular

Hold the Fries

Baked, boiled, and mashed potatoes are better.

The Latest In Harvard’s Fight with the Trump Administration

Back-and-forth reports on settlement talks, new accusations from the government, and a reshuffling of two federal compliance offices

How AI Energy Demand Costs Consumers

Utilities shift AI infrastructure costs onto consumers.

Explore More From Current Issue

Nicolo Maestas in a grey suit and wearing glasses sits with her arms on a table

The Harvard health economist not afraid to get in the weeds

A six-foot-tall, five-panel folded screen stands in a field of grass next to the woods. It's painted different shades of green, with some squares cut out that represent digital pixels.

Julia Rooney’s paintings cross the analog-digital divide.

Alexander Gardner’s 1868 photo shows federal peace commissioners with Sophie Mousseau, the lone woman at center.

The wealth gap, shamanism, the life of David Nathan, and more