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.
Harvard men’s tennis head coach Andrew Rueb
Andrew Rueb’s experience on the professional tennis circuit informs his coaching.
by Jacob Sweet
Sandra Susan Smith, profiled by Marina Bolotnikova
Sandra Susan Smith studies work and incarceration in an unequal, atomized America.
Journalist Chris Wallace, profiled by Craig Lambert
Chris Wallace has “the toughest job of any television journalist.”
Singer, songwriter, harmonica player Scott Albert Johnson
Scott Albert Johnson finds his path.
by Jacob Sweet
Arabic translator Marilyn Booth
Marilyn Booth translates Arabic literature for Anglophone readers.
Novelist Maggie Shipstead and “Great Circle”
Maggie Shipstead’s time-spanning, globe-circling new novel
by Dan Kelly
Andrew Knoll, “A Brief History of Earth,” reviewed by Jonathan Shaw
Andrew Knoll on the planet’s past—and fraught future
Pediatrician Eileen Costello, profiled by Nell Porter Brown
A pediatrician cares for a city’s children.
Overseer and alumni association candidates
The Overseer and Harvard Alumni Association director slates
Wilbur Cross, Martin Feldstein, and Charles William Eliot
Wisdom from the Great Depression—plus an accomplished economist, and rowdiness on the Charles
by Primus VI