The Senior Celebrants of 2009

Harvard’s most venerable alumni

Frances Pass Addelson

Frances Pass Addelson | Photograph by Stu Rosner

The oldest graduates of Harvard and Radcliffe present on Commencement day were Frances Pass Addelson ’30, 100, of Brookline, Massachusetts, and George Barner ’29, Ed ’32, L ’33, 100, of Kennebunk, Maine. Both were recognized at the afternoon ceremony by HAA president Walter H. Morris Jr. 

Photograph by Stu Rosner

George Barner

According to University records, the oldest alumni include: M. Louise Macnair ’25, 106, of Cambridge; Halford J. Pope ’25, M.B.A. ’27, 105, of Hilton Head Island, South Carolina; Edward Gipstein ’27, 104, of New London, Connecticut; Rose Depoyan ’26, Ed.M. ’38, 103, of Brockton, Massachusetts; Edith M. Van Saun ’29, 102, of Sykesville, Maryland; Amelia T. Rieman ’29, 102, of Tucson, Arizona; Priscilla Bartol Grace ’58, 102, of Woods Hole, Massachusetts; George H. O’Sullivan ’30, 101, of Wellesley Hills, Massachusetts; Ruth Smith ’29, 101, of New York City; and J. Mack Swigert ’30, 101, of Cincinnati, Ohio.

Related topics

You might also like

He was Harvard’s quintessential people person.

The former economics concentrator brings his talent for crunching numbers to netminding.

Graduates John Lithgow, Bill Rauch, and Bess Wohl took home prizes on Sunday night.

Most popular

The Supreme Court Affirmative Action Rulings: An Analysis

The underlying arguments project clashing worldviews of race and appropriate remedies.

An animal’s journey from grief to love shows how much humans need each other, too.

Dani Rodrik profiled by Marina Bolotnikova

Dani Rodrik’s views on trade, development, and democracy enter the mainstream.

Explore More From Current Issue

Harvey Mansfield seated in a bright yellow chair, surrounded by bookshelves and cozy decor.

The retired government professor has been a rare conservative voice on campus for decades.

A woman with long hair stands confidently with crossed arms next to a pickup truck.

In her memoir All That's Unseen, Emilee Hackney explores religion, friendship, and home.

Massachusetts Hall at Harvard Red brick building with a large clock on top, surrounded by green trees.

With a grade inflation vote and in the courts, the University argued that it’s taking steps to change.