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

Illustration of a professional woman at home, holding a baby

Why Aid Cuts Didn’t End Worker Shortages

Why cutting jobless aid during the pandemic didn’t send workers scrambling for work

by Erin O’Donnell

Views from the Top

President Bacow and Senior Fellow Lee on Harvard today

by John S. Rosenberg

The End of Shopping Week

After much debate, the Faculty of Arts and Sciences votes to replace shopping week with previous-term registration.

by Jonathan Shaw

The illustration shows an empty rowboat floating away and a woman wading toward it, in chest-high water.

The Need for Communal Healing

Coming to terms with personal and pandemic grief

by Rebecca E. J. Cadenhead

The Long Game

A standout golfer’s patient approach

by Jacob Sweet

Ibrahim Barry with a basketball on a court

“No Going Back to Normal”

Addressing the complexities of children’s mental health

by Jacob Sweet

Photograph of Richard Evans Schultes at Chiribiquete conservation area

Richard Evans Schultes

Brief life of a pioneering ethnobotanist and conservationist: 1915-2001

by Mark J. Plotkin

Illustration of students choosing different paths through college

Investing vs. Harvesting

Why (and how) to help undergraduates make the most of their extracurriculars

by Richard J. Light , Allison Jegla

David Reich standing in his Harvard Medical School laboratory

Telling Humanity’s Story through DNA

Geneticist David Reich rewrites the ancient human past.

by Jonathan Shaw

A portrait phot of Emily Carmichael

Beasts of the Big Screen

Jurassic World Dominion screenwriter Emily Carmichael on scripting Hollywood sci-fi epics

by Nicolas Rapold