Alumni & People

curation of alumni people, faculty and student profiles

Conan O’Brien in a dark suit and light shirt, smiling and posing with hands clasped.

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

A drawing of a workplace where parents and their children are working together

Nepotism’s Impact in the Job Market

How connections in blue-collar work disadvantage women and blacks

by Max J. Krupnick

An illustration of a young woman at an easel, holding a paintbrush and tracing a path while looking out across a landscape of other people following their own path

Uncharted Territory

A recent graduate thinks about what is means to take unconventional paths after Harvard.

by Josie Abugov

Illustration of an armor-clad heart, resistant to bacterial attacks

Engineering Virus-free Cells… and Organs?

Harvard researchers have built bacteria resistant to viral infections. 

by Daniel Oberhaus

Group photo of Du Yun, Daniel Goleman, Mina Jahan Bissell, Sanford Greenberg, Catherine Gattegno Cesarsky, and John Dower

Centennial Medalists

Six alumni of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences are honored.

Easing the College Transition

Rising Scholars brings incoming first-years from under-funded high schools to campus early.

by Max J. Krupnick

Kari Nadeau sits in her lab

Kari Nadeau

Multi-allergy immunotherapy pioneer Kari Nadeau returns to Harvard

by Max J. Krupnick

Harvard Medalists

Five honored for service to the University 

Harvard Cambridge Scholars

Four moving on to further studies abroad 

Paola Arlotta standing in her laboratory

How Harvard Researchers Are Growing Human Brain Organoids to Study Autism and Consciousness

Paola Arlotta’s organoids provide a window into the human brain.

by Lydialyle Gibson

Gram Parsons stands in front of a bus in Harvard Square

Sound as Ever

Gram Parsons and Harvard’s hand in country rock

by Nancy Walecki