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

Can Slime Molds Think?

A seemingly primitive creature’s complex ability to detect mass from a distance.

by Nancy Walecki

Optimizing Public-School Spending

Home prices are a bellwether of efficient spending in local schools

by Erin O’Donnell

China’s Excess Wind Energy

Rather than shutting down turbines, China can harness surplus wind energy to make “green” hydrogen fuel and industrial chemicals.

by Jacob Sweet

Bruno Carvalho

An urbanist’s lifelong study of the “rhythm of cities,” from Rio to Cambridge 

by Nancy Walecki

Campus, Interrupted

The Undergraduate returns to student life, altered by the pandemic and a year spent apart. 

by Rebecca E. J. Cadenhead , Swathi Kella

The Mystery of Smell

COVID-19 shines a spotlight on a once-obscure field of science.

by Lydialyle Gibson

Edgar James Banks

Brief life of an entrepreneurial archaeologist: 1866-1945

by Nancy Freudenthal

Seven Harvard Affiliates Named HHMI Investigators

The designation comes with $9 million in research support

by Jonathan Shaw

Penny Pritzker Gives $100 Million for New Harvard Economics Facility

Landmark support for an eminently strong department

by John S. Rosenberg

Namwali Serpell’s Novel-In-Progress

The acclaimed author and English professor will explore mourning and reunion in The Furrows: An Elegy.

by Lydialyle Gibson