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Cousins in the Ancient World
Using a new technique developed at Harvard and the Max Planck Institute, scientists can identify close relatives among people who lived thousands of years ago. A study published today demonstrates how the ability to identify up to second and third cousins …
Harvard's New-Normal Financial Results
The University’s fiscal year 2015, concluded last June 30 and detailed in the annual financial report released today, in many ways mirrors the outcome of the prior year : Harvard again operated modestly in the black, following a couple of years of modest …
Where to Gift Your Grad
It’s been an unusual year for students, and graduates deserve a little bit of extra love. Happily, there are plenty of options in and around the Square to help them celebrate in the style they deserve, from wardrobe consults for that all-important job …
Issue: May-June 2021
Harvard Confers Six Honorary Degrees
D uring the 372nd Commencement this morning, Harvard will celebrate six distinguished leaders, conferring honorary degrees on four men and two women: • a pair of life-sciences leaders (including an alumna who is a Nobel laureate); • a two-time Pulitzer …
The Overseers’ Higher Profile
If past is prologue, last summer’s pandemic-delayed election of members of the Board of Overseers represents a significant challenge to the norms of Harvard governance. • Harvard Forward put forth a slate of five petition candidates for places on the …
Issue: March-April 2021
How Planet Earth’s Trees Use Carbon
What is the carbon cycle, anyway? Most people are familiar with the basics: trees and other plants absorb CO₂ from the atmosphere and convert it back to oxygen. Since CO₂ is a molecule that traps the sun’s heat, trees and other carbon-sequestering …
Drew Gilpin Faust, President Emerita, 2024 Phi Beta Kappa Oration—“Free and Brave”: Defending Universities and the Rule of Truth
I am honored to be here today celebrating your achievements and grateful for this opportunity to speak after 11 years of silence at these Literary Exercises—sitting where President Garber is right now. And I am honored to join a long line of distinguished …
Chinese Trade Dragons
China’s economy has grown more than five-fold during the last 20 years, adjusted for inflation—making it the second-largest economy globally, behind only the United States. Based on purchasing power parity (not per capita output), many believe China’s …
Larry Bacow’s Parting Push
During a regularly scheduled conversation at his Massachusetts Hall office last week—the last such occasion for this magazine during his five-year tenure—President Lawrence S. Bacow conveyed a flavor of the University leader’s daily multitasking, while …
Harvard Forms Committee on Renaming Principles
President Lawrence S. Bacow today announced formation of a Committee to Articulate Principles on Renaming that will, according to a news announcement, “help guide consideration of questions about renaming campus buildings, spaces, programs, …
At Home with Harvard: Racial Justice
This round-up is part of Harvard Magazine ’s series “At Home with Harvard,” a guide to what to read, watch, listen to, and do while social distancing. Read the prior pieces, featuring stories about the history of women at Harvard, the climate crisis, …
When Technology and Society Clash
… And it’s why her forthcoming book, to be released in 2025 and focused on how society can maintain the benefits of …
Issue: November-December 2024
Another Competitive Overseers’ Election Takes Shape
With the announcement today of the Harvard Alumni Association (HAA) nominating committee’s candidates for the Board of Overseers, a second consecutive, competitive campaign for election to the governing board appears to be shaping up. Harvard Forward (HF) …
Overseer Candidates’ Harvard Priorities
G iven the important role members of Harvard’s Board of Overseers—one of the University’s two governing boards—play in assuring the institution’s academic quality and securing its future, Harvard Magazine asked each nominated candidate to answer these …
University Approves New Law School Shield
More than five years after the Harvard Corporation acceded to Harvard Law School’s decision to abandon its shield, associated with slavery , it has approved the school’s replacement. The new shield was developed by the HLS Shield Working Group, first …