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Three Cheers
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. …
Issue: January-February 2023
A Milestone for Asian-American Alumni
Organized by the Harvard Asian American Alumni Alliance (HAAAA), the three-day Asian American Alumni Summit on October 15-17 drew more than 400 people from six decades and all of Harvard’s schools ( http://summit.haaaa.net ). “We are immeasurably diverse …
Issue: January-February 2011
“What Are You?”
Most bluntly , the question was, "What are you?" Usually posed by a defiant, cocked-hip, sandy-haired child on the local monkey bars, the strange question usually left me frozen in my Strawberry-Shortcake Tretorns. What I realized over time was that even …
Medieval Disinformation?
A digital reconstruction of thirteenth-century ceramic floor tiles, now on display at The College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, helps reframe ideas about political agendas and artistic influences in medieval England. Found in heaps of fragments at the …
Issue: March-April 2023
Mahadevan, Huybers, and Others Named MacArthur Fellows
Applied mathematician Lakshminarayanan Mahadevan and climate scientist Peter Huybers have been named MacArthur Fellows. Mahadevan, who is Lola England de Valpine professor of applied mathematics, is popularly known for precisely explaining phenomena such …
Democrats, Republicans, and Zero-Sum Thinking
In a severely polarized country, Americans’ political mindset is increasingly shaped by “zero-sum” views of policy and society: the belief that gains achieved by one individual or group come at the expense of another. If the resources available are fixed …
Our Masked Selves
In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, amid spreading fears and sheltered isolation, Los Angeles artist Richard Nielsen painted a colorful portrait of himself in a mask. Soon, he was painting friends and family members in their …
Issue: March-April 2021
How Measles Destroys Immune Memories
The measles outbreak in Texas, which has now spread to New Mexico, has infected mainly unvaccinated children. Of 159 cases, all but five were in unvaccinated individuals. One child has died. Cases have also been reported in six other states, including New …
Not Made for Walkin'
Less a fête for the feet than a feast for the eyes, much of the haute couture footwear on display in Killer Heels: The Art of the High-Heeled Shoe at the Currier Museum is “barely wearable,” admits curator Samantha Cataldo. “Any woman who has put her foot …
Issue: March-April 2016
Letters Between Friends
In 2004 , the Rotch-Jones-Duff House and Garden Museum in New Bedford purchased a collection of documents that included the William Rotch (1844–1925) family papers. Among them were 75 letters that young Willie and his friend Henry Arnold Taber (1841–1868) …
Biggest Loser Contestants Share Tips
Two former contestants on the popular television show The Biggest Loser, in which obese men and women compete to lose the most weight and win a prize of $250,000, came to the Malkin Athletic Center on January 19 to give motivational speeches on health …
Professor Holdren to Be Nominated as White House Science Adviser
John P. Holdren, Heinz professor of environmental policy at the Harvard Kennedy School, is to be nominated as the White House science adviser by President-elect Barack Obama, according to several news reports. Holdren's website (which lists his current …
A Milestone for Asian-American Alumni
At the Asian AmeriCAn alumni summit—the group's first-ever University-wide gathering—even the menu seemed symbolic. Attendees at the opening reception on October 15 mingled over drinks and Korean barbecue beef—fitting considering the audience, but also …
Endowment Declines 22 Percent through October 31
Going beyond the disclosures made on November 10 and November 18 , the University on December 2 released new information to deans and financial administrators indicating that the value of Harvard's endowment had declined 22 percent through October 31. (It …
Harvard Basketball's Unlikely MVP
In the summer of 2017, men’s basketball assistant coach Brian Eskildsen was on vacation in Rome, eating a gelato, when he heard someone shout, “Eski?” He looked up to see Justin Bassey ’20 smiling back at him. The encounter was pure …