Alumni & People

curation of alumni people, faculty and student profiles

Conan O’Brien Named Harvard’s 2026 Commencement Speaker

The comedian, host, and 1985 graduate will deliver remarks at the May 28 ceremony. 

by Schuyler Velasco

Profile of voiceover actor Adriana Colón

Adriana Colón forges aural connections.

by Matteo Wong

Profile of novelist and TV doctor Ian K. Smith

Ian K. Smith’s turn toward detective fiction

by Lydialyle Gibson

Megha Majumdar's debut novel, “A Burning,” tackles inequality and violence

The Harvard graduate, who grew up in Kolkata, mines the India of her childhood for a tale with modern resonance.

by Lydialyle Gibson

New HAA president John West

HAA president John West promotes interconnections within the University.

by Nell Porter-Brown

The much-shrunken class of 1823

The Class of 1823 goes rogue and gets booted.

by Jacob Sweet

Medford’s Royall House and Slave Quarters

Preserving black history as “an act of liberation”

by Nell Porter-Brown

Dairy culture on the Eurasian Steppe

Ancient dental plaque points to the historical significance of dairy culture on the Eurasian Steppe.

by Jonathan Shaw

Harvard Portrait: Venkatesh Murthy

A brief look at what animals’ sense of smell reveals about the brain

by Lydialyle Gibson

Lessons from the natural world

The Undergraduate reassesses the rhythms of the natural world.

by Drew Pendergrass