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Human and Machine Intelligence
Harvard celebrated the launch of the Kempner Institute for the Study of Natural and Artificial Intelligence on Thursday afternoon with a whirlwind of performance art, presentations, and panel discussions centered on the institute’s mission: elucidating …
A Bold Business Agenda
Srikant Datar had to overcome two disadvantages upon assuming his responsibilities as dean of Harvard Business School (HBS)on January 1, 2021: taking office in the middle of an academic year, and amid the pandemic. He did so by drawing on all his …
Issue: March-April 2022
Courtney B. Vance Named Harvard Alumni Day Speaker
Actor , producer, and writer Courtney B. Vance ’82 will be the featured speaker at the third annual Harvard Alumni Day, a University-wide celebration of alumni hosted by the Harvard Alumni Association (HAA). The event, which will take place on Friday, May …
Harvard Square's Best
During the worst early days of the pandemic in Massachusetts, the Harvard Square Business Association sent drones overhead to capture the ghost-town feel of the streets. The result was a haunting video of shuttered stores and cleared roads, devoid of …
Issue: September-October 2021
The $16-Trillion Virus
The final tally of economic damage caused by SARS-CoV-2 will have to wait for the pandemic’s end, but in the meantime, two eminent economists have estimated the cost in the United States alone at $16 trillion. Eckstein professor of applied economics David …
Cambridge 02138
Computing and Humans Thank you for Harry R. Lewis’s “ Mechanical Intelligence and Counterfeit Humanity ” (July-August, page 38). I wish everyone who has or uses a computer would read it. We lost the game when we adopted the term “Artificial Intelligence.” …
Issue: September-October 2024
At Home with Harvard: The Literary Life
This is the third installment in Harvard Magazine’ s new series, “At Home with Harvard,” a guide to what to read, watch, and listen to while social distancing. Read the first two pieces, featuring stories about Harvard's Arnold Arboretum and Harvardians …
Jeffrey Epstein’s Extensive Harvard Reach
The Harvard General Counsel’s office, charged last September by President Lawrence S. Bacow to investigate Jeffrey Epstein’s gifts to and relationship with the University, found that his financial support did not extend past his conviction on sex charges …
Issue: July-August 2020
Social Media Use and Adult Depression
Parenting teenagers in 2022 generally entails worrying about their use of platforms such as Instagram, Snapchat, and TikTok; multiple studies point to links between social-media use and anxiety and depression among children and adolescents. Yet a new …
Issue: March-April 2022
Hansjörg Wyss Gives $350 Million to Bioengineering Institute
T he University announced this morning that Hansjörg Wyss, M.B.A. ’65, has made a $350-million gift to support the research of the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering—his fourth: a start-up gift of $125 million in 2008 (then the largest …
Harvard 25-Penn 23 (Triple Overtime)
Sunlight had transitioned to darkness on Saturday at Harvard Stadium when the Crimson football team lined up in the third overtime with a share of the Ivy League title in its hands. Harvard had tried to give the game against Penn away several times but …
“Something Is Very Broken”
Telling the broccoli story, even now, makes Usha Thakrar burn. It was nearly dark, she recalls, when a 53-foot tractor trailer packed with the fresh produce rolled into Stonefield Farm, headquarters of the Boston Area Gleaners, in exurban Acton. As …
Issue: May-June 2023
The College’s Strong Admissions Yield
harvard College announced today that nearly 77 percent of students offered admission to the class of 2015 accepted—up from 75.5 percent last year. Harvard reported in March that 2,158 applicants (out of 34,950) had been offered admission—a record-low rate …
Presidents’ Paths
Lawrence S. Bacow, a president emeritus again, has advised many institutions on how to pick good leaders. He always begins with intellectual prowess. Character comes second: those who have a deficit rarely make it up later. Third is what he calls the …
Issue: September-October 2023
Athletics Director Robert L. Scalise will Retire in June
Nichols Family director of athletics Robert L. Scalise will retire at the end of this academic year, dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) Claudine Gay wrote in a message to the FAS community today. The announcement comes during a comprehensive …