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Forecourt Phenoms
In the world of college squash, Harvard was once a perennial national champion. The Crimson have bagged 30 such titles, far more than any other college, and reeled off seven consecutive national nine-man championships as recently as 1991 though 1997. But …
Issue: January-February 2007
Endowment Value Rises to $32.7 Billion
HIGHLIGHTS: Endowment valued at $32.7 billion as of June 30, up $2.0 billion (6.5 percent) from $30.7 billion a year earlier. Harvard Management Company records 11.3 percent investment return on endowment assets during fiscal year 2013, after negative …
Surplus Surprise…and the Endowment’s Evolution
The University’s financial report for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2018, published on October 25, revealed a fifth consecutive budget surplus—nearly $200 million—in part reflecting continued U.S. economic growth and the benefits accruing from the …
Issue: January-February 2019
Claudine Gay Named Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences
President Lawrence S. Bacow announced this morning that Claudine Gay—Cowett professor of government and of African and African American studies, and dean of social science within the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS)—will become dean of FAS August 15. …
Sculpture That Breathes
“In sculpture , you are always fighting the deadness of a thing,” says Murray Dewart ’70, paraphrasing Victorian critic Walter Pater. “The secret of sculpture is getting the feeling that the life force is pushing from the inside out. You get it in bread.” …
Issue: November-December 2013
Speeding in the Lanes
Last February, the powerhouse Harvard women’s swimming and diving squad rolled into Princeton for the three-day Ivy championship meet, hoping to seize its first Ivy conference title since 1992. (The meets alternate between Harvard and Princeton, the only …
Issue: March-April 2006
Scanning Species
On June 26, 1974, merchandise tracking was revolutionized with a 10-pack of Wrigley’s Juicy Fruit chewing gum. The gum package, today sequestered in the Smithsonian, was the first nationally barcoded item to be scanned at a supermarket checkout (in Troy, …
Issue: September-October 2005
The 2013 Centennial Medalists
The 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 study at Harvard. It is the …
An Egyptian Archaeological Treasure
The discovery of a trove of diaries written by Egyptian workers in the early twentieth century has brought together Egyptologists across the globe in an effort to transcribe and study the rare primary sources, which lend a local perspective to a “golden …
Debating the Moral Status of the Embryo
Should stem-cell scientists be able to destroy even early-stage human embryos in order to advance medicine? That question has been framed in many different ways. When does life begin? At conception? At implantation? When the heart starts to beat at 22 …
Issue: July-August 2004
Arts' Rising Place
The practice of the arts is in the ascendant at Harvard. And even though there is not now enough space to contain this explosion of student talent and creativity, the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS), in a move that bodes well for future artistic …
Issue: May-June 2004
The Poco of Pocos
The “Poco of Pocos” was Bernard Butekan, a secondhand-clothes dealer (“clo’man”), a Harvard celebrity, and the first in a series of rag dealers who played a surprisingly large role in the culture of students, faculty members, and the broader University …
Issue: September-October 2021
AI and Democracy
History will look back on 2024 as the first AI election, said Shorenstein Center director Nancy Gibbs in her introduction to the event, “ AI and its Implications for Democracy.” That sense of the historical moment pervaded the ensuing conversation among …
The Post-Roe World
“Clarity is power,” said Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health (HSPH) dean Michelle Williams, at the school’s panel last week on the post- Roe United States. “American people need a clear understanding of the science and consequences of depriving …
“Design Is Not an Intellectual Exercise”
Standing before a graduating class of soon-to-be architects and designers and urban planners at the Graduate School of Design’s Class Day, Teju Cole—the Vidal professor of the practice of creative writing—wanted to talk about doors. Real doors, but also …