Search
Building a New Information Civilization
Most people can be intimately known, near instantly, in ways unimaginable just a few years ago—through the large-scale collection of data from wireless devices they keep close. “These are devices that we think of as extensions of our powers and …
Close to Par
Harvard’s endowment was valued at $36.4 billion last June 30, the end of fiscal year 2014—$3.7 billion more (11.3 percent) than at the end of fiscal 2013 , and within a half-billion dollars of the peak value achieved in fiscal 2008, just before the …
Issue: November-December 2014
“The Busiest Man in Poker”
In 2003 , when a complete amateur named Chris Moneymaker won the $2.5-million first prize at the World Series of Poker (WSOP), the game’s highest-profile event, Bernard Lee ’92 had already been playing poker with buddies in his hometown of Wayland, …
Issue: November-December 2012
The Three Principles of Transformation
On May 22, presiding over her final Baccalaureate ceremony, President Drew Faust spoke to the graduating seniors of 2018 about transformation—both theirs, and her own. While recounting the transformations that had taken place at Harvard during the class’s …
Harvard Campaign Reaches $5 Billion
The University has announced that The Harvard Campaign had recorded $5 billion in gifts and pledges as of December 31: nearly 77 percent of the $6.5-billion goal announced in September 2013, when the public phase of fundraising began with $2.8 billion of …
“Edifying and Beautiful”
Curators at Houghton Library are bringing a splash of green and other vibrant color to the building’s main lobby this summer with a new exhibition of rare and old botanical illustrations. Though visitors from the public were not able to enter Harvard Yard …
The Harvard Corporation, Reformed
Robert D. Reischauer, Senior Fellow of the Harvard Corporation, and President Drew Faust today provided a brief briefing on that governing board’s operations and activities—one of the periodic updates to the community begun when significant reforms of …
College Announces New Public-Service Leadership
Continuing an effort to enhance the role of public service in students’ lives, Harvard College dean Rakesh Khurana today announced that Warren professor of the history of American education Julie Reuben has been appointed the inaugural faculty director of …
John Lewis Named Harvard Commencement Speaker
Congressman John Lewis, LL.D. ’12 —a towering figure in the U.S. civil-rights movement who has represented Georgia’s Fifth District in the U.S. House of Representatives since 1986—will be the principal speaker at Harvard’s 367th Commencement, on May 24, …
Seven Harvardians Win MacArthur "Genius" Awards in 2018
Seven Harvard alumni have been named fellows by the MacArthur Foundation this year. The fellowship, commonly referred to as the “genius” award, recognizes recipients for their “ innovation and creativity and their potential to make important contributions …
Sackler—and Beyond
In February 1982 , Harvard President Derek C. Bok called off a planned expansion of the Harvard Art Museums due to a lack of funds. Fogg Museum director Seymour Slive was devastated, writing that the cancellation “dealt a blow from which the museum and …
Vermont Folk Songs, Plugged In
The Green Mountain State does not leap to mind when the subject of indigenous American music comes up. Yet Vermont has bred American folk music, and your name in secret I would write ( http://yournameinsecretiwouldwrite.blogspot.com ) , a recent CD …
Issue: May-June 2012
Yesterday’s News
1924 In a likely first for Harvard, mother and son Martha Brown Fincke, M.Ed. ’24, and C. Louis Fincke ’24 receive degrees at the same Commencement. 1939 Modern pedagogy is well rep resented in the Summer School: J.R. Brewster ’25, of the Harvard Film …
Issue: July-August 2019
Harvard Corporation Elects Kenneth I. Chenault and Karen Gordon Mills
The University announced today that Kenneth I. Chenault, J.D. ’76, and Karen Gordon Mills ’75, M.B.A. ’77, have been elected members of the Harvard Corporation, the senior governing board, effective July 1. They succeed retiring members Robert D. …
“This Is a Gift”
“We wanted to make something.” Two months ago, as Sharmila Sen and her colleagues at Harvard University Press (HUP), all working from home, followed the news of demonstrations spreading around the country—and around the globe—to protest racism and police …