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

Photographic portrait of James Agee

Origin Stories

Bow and Arrow’s mechanic, James Agee’s creative turbulence

by Primus VI

Illustration of a man commuting to work

Commuting’s Impact on Creativity

Long commutes harm productivity and innovation.

by Erin O’Donnell

Views of orchards and iconic red bar at Lookout farm

Betting on Lookout Farm

A pandemic-era restaurant-plus-farm thrives in Natick, Massachusetts

by Nell Porter-Brown

Illustration of ice melting and spilling out of a bowl

Raising the Estimate of Sea Level Rise

The effect of post-glacial rebound was overlooked in the West Antarctic

by Nancy Walecki

Busy urban street scene with pedestrians, shops, and a stroller under a sunny sky.

Harvard Square’s Best

What’s new—and unchanged—in the historic heart of Cambridge

by Nell Porter-Brown

Jim Hammitt and a teammate sailing a Lark dinghy on the Charles River in 1976

Sailing Solo

James Hammitt ’78, is a professor at the School of Public Health—and a superb sailor.

by Juliet Isselbacher

Joy Buolamwini dons a white mask in order to be visible to facial recognition software in the film Coded Bias.

Bias in Artificial Intelligence

Data journalist Meredith Broussard on “the civil-rights issue of our time”

by Lydialyle Gibson

Ran Zheng

Landmark Bio Breaks Ground

A Boston-area collaboration on advanced life-sciences techniques

by Jonathan Shaw

Michael Porter

Governance Reform and Shared Value

Michael Porter on the new business agenda

by Juliet Isselbacher

Tiya Miles and Tomiko Brown-Nagin

The Layered Histories in Black Family Keepsakes

Tiya Miles traces a mother and daughter’s story through a cotton sack.

by Juliet Isselbacher