The Harvard Alumni Association (HAA) has announced the recipients of the 2026 Harvard Medal, to be awarded in person during Harvard Alumni Day on June 5. Established in 1981, the Harvard Medal recognizes extraordinary service to the University in areas that include leadership, fundraising, teaching, innovation, administration, and volunteerism.
Thomas A. Dingman ’67, Ed.M. ’73
Dingman has served the Harvard community for 45 years, including 13 years as dean of freshmen. Throughout his tenure, Dingman often ate with freshmen in Annenberg and strolled through the Yard; far from being some distant administrator, he was omnipresent in students’ lives. Admissions dean William Fitzsimmons, his College classmate, has described him as an almost “legendary figure, very much in the mold of greatness.” As dean, Dingman contributed to first-years’ sense of belonging on campus and connection to peers. He launched several initiatives, including Convocation and the Reflecting on Your Life program (group sessions through which first-years look at their experiences at Harvard and envision future endeavors). He also reorganized the Freshman Dean’s Office staff, with an eye toward increasing support for students transitioning to college and created more ways for students to engage with faculty outside the classroom. Dingman joined the Harvard community as an assistant director in the admissions office in 1981and went on to perform various administrative and mentoring roles at the College, including assistant and associate dean of the College, resident dean in Leverett and Dudley Houses, director of the Parents Association, and coordinator of disability services. In 1996, he was awarded the FAS Administrative Prize. Dingman retired from full time service in 2018 but continued to serve Harvard as a special advisor to the dean of Harvard College. He currently advises first-year students, is an advisor for the renewal of Eliot House, is a College director on the HAA board, mentors first-year directors, and interviews College applicants.
Deborah Kaufman Goldfine ’85
For decades, Goldfine has strengthened Harvard athletics, engaged alumni, and supported students through various activities as executive chair of the Harvard Radcliffe Foundation for Women’s Athletics, as well as a longtime member and co-chair of the Friends of Harvard Tennis. A former three-time captain of the women’s tennis team, she is a champion of women’s sports. In 2024, she spearheaded the 50th Anniversary Celebration of Harvard Women’s Tennis, which raised over $1 million for the team. She served multiple years as a volunteer assistant women’s tennis coach at Harvard, established a mentoring program connecting student-athletes and alumni, and served as a member of the Harvard Visiting Committee for Athletics. She has also been on the Advisory Committee on Shareholder Responsibility and served as a College director on the HAA board. Deeply engaged with her class, Kaufman Goldfine has co-chaired every reunion since her tenth reunion and has been a Harvard College Fund volunteer for 35 years. She has co-chaired the Schools and Scholarships Committee in Newton, Massachusetts, for 20 years, working with hundreds of alumni volunteers, interviewing countless College applicants, and serving as a mentor to undergraduate students.
Past recognition for her contributions includes the Miller-Hunn Award for admissions work, the John P. Reardon Jr. Alumni Award for extraordinary service to the University through leadership and engagement activities, the Albert H. Gordon ’23 Award for college fundraising, and various honors from the Harvard tennis program.
Walter H. Morris Jr. ’73, MBA ’75
A devoted member of the Harvard community, Morris has bolstered alumni engagement and fostered lifelong learning in a variety of roles for the HAA. As HAA president from 2008 to 2009, he helped expand alumni communities in cities across the United States and around the world, including Shared Interest Groups (SIGs). During his tenure, SIGs grew from 21 to 30 organizations, and the HAA launched the inaugural Global Networking Night for alumni. Morris has often returned to Harvard for lectures and presentations, relishing the opportunity to open those learning channels to alumni worldwide. He joined the HAA’s Graduate Schools Committee in 1995 at the urging of then-HAA executive director Jack Reardon ’60, who was Morris’s first-year proctor and mentor throughout college. Since then, Morris has served as an HAA Elected Director, as chair of the HAA Awards Committee, on his College reunion committees, and on the Committee for the Happy Observance of Commencement. He received the John P. Reardon Jr. Alumni Award in 2011. Morris is an active member of the Harvard Black Alumni Society and the Harvard Business School African-American Alumni Association and has participated on various panels and in Harvard Black Alumni Weekend. He has also been involved in the Harvard Club of New York and held various leadership positions with the Harvard Club of Washington, D.C.
