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Origin Stories
Primus is often captivated by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences’ memorial minutes on the scholarly passions and personal crotchets of distinguished deceased professors. Those delivered on May 2 were intellectually mind-blowing: Pellegrino University …
Issue: July-August 2023
Running Radcliffe
President Drew Faust on April 28 appointed Higgins professor of natural sciences Barbara J. Grosz to the deanship of the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study (RIAS). Grosz, a computer scientist who has been a Harvard faculty member since 1986 ( …
Issue: July-August 2008
Ski Team, Waxing
In the north country of New Hampshire, skiers from Dartmouth, the current NCAA champions, reign supreme, while the Green Mountains are home to the University of Vermont ski team, another perennial powerhouse. On the intercollegiate ski trail, Harvard has …
Issue: January-February 2008
Liberia’s President to Speak at Harvard Commencement
The University announced toda y that Liberian president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, M.P.A. ’71, will be the principal speaker during the afternoon exercises at Harvard's 360th Commencement, on May 26. “Over the course of her nearly 40 years in public service, …
Damage and Repair
When Celia Pym ’01 was 28, her great uncle died, and her father, going through the old man’s things, found a sweater he thought she would like. Pym was just starting out as a professional artist, feeling her way toward a focus on textiles and knitting. …
Issue: January-February 2022
"I Can't See My Family"
The plan was to video chat his parents on the day of Commencement. His parents, who live in Japan, couldn’t be present, but Daishi Miguel Tanaka ’19 thought that if he gave his phone to a friend who would record his turn on the stage, they could at least …
Where Do Overseers Come From?
How are members of Harvard’s Board of Overseers chosen—and what do they do, once they are elected to the governing board? Those questions, of little general interest to most of the community most of the time, have suddenly become salient because for the …
“We Only Have One Planet”
Former United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, M.P.A. ’84, had harsh words for the world’s leaders during an address to Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) graduates on Wednesday afternoon’s Class Day ceremony. Speaking nearly four decades after his own …
Off the Shelf
Matters military. Having really negotiated with North Korea (see “ The Korean Nuclear Crisis ,” September-October 2003, page 38), and later served as secretary of defense, Ash Carter (now director of the Kennedy School’s Belfer Center for Science and …
Issue: July-August 2019
Against Delta, Moderna Edges Pfizer, but Omicron Looms
A large-scale study comparing the efficacy of the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines against COVID-19 finds that Moderna’s vaccine is slightly more effective at preventing a range of outcomes, including infection, COVID-19 symptoms, hospitalization, admission to …
Scrubbing Supply Chains
Harvard leveraged construction of its massive new Science and Engineering Complex (SEC) in Allston in order to coax building-materials manufacturers into removing hazardous chemicals from their supply chains, the University reports. Heather Henriksen, the …
Centennial Medalists
The Griffin Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Centennial Medal, first awarded in 1989 on the occasion of the school’s hundredth anniversary, honors alumni who have made contributions to society that emerged from their graduate studies. It is the …
Issue: July-August 2024
$tellar Swan Song
Ending his 15-year run as president of Harvard Management Company, Jack R. Meyer, M.B.A. ’69, and his investment colleagues turned in a rousing finale. For the fiscal year ended June 30, total investment return of 19.2 percent brought the value of …
Issue: November-December 2005
2019 HAA Award Recipients
Six alumni were recognized with HAA Awards, for their outstanding service to the University, during the alumni association’s fall meeting. Salvo Arena, LL.M. ’00, of New York City, has served in various roles since 2004, including as president of the …
Issue: November-December 2019
"Justice"—On Air, in Books, Online
One of Harvard's most popular and celebrated courses, "Justice" (Moral Reasoning 22), taught by Bass professor of government Michael J. Sandel, takes its tutelage outside the University’s walls this autumn with a three-pronged media package: a public …