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 portraits of HAA nominating committee nominees for Harvard Board of Overseers: Top row, left to right: Christiana Goh Bardon, Mark J. Carney, Kimberly Nicole Dowdell, Christopher B. Howard. Bottom row, left to right: María Teresa Kumar, Raymond J. Lohier Jr., Terah Evaleen Lyons, Sheryl WuDunn

Nominating Committee Overseer Candidates

Nominating committee slate announced, as Harvard Forward slate seeks petition signatures.

by John S. Rosenberg

Headshots of Marc Lipsitch, William Hanage, Barry Bloom

Fast-spreading coronavirus variants raise concerns

Despite vaccines, Harvard scientists warn, more-transmissible variants make COVID-19 harder to control.

by Jonathan Shaw

Photographic portrait of Philip W. Lovejoy, executive director, Harvard Alumni Association

Harvard reunions, alumni meeting to be virtual

The alumni association announces the inevitable.

by John S. Rosenberg

Harvard alumni elected to the 117th Congress

Four new House members boost the roster of alumni in Congress to 54.

A drawing showing a large crossbar being hauled into place between two tall smokestacks to make a giant "H" for "Harvard"

Headlines from Harvard’s history

Headlines from Harvard’s history

Shelby Meyerhoff's photographic self-portrait of her head and shoulders transformed with body paints into a blue-ringed octopus

Profile of body-paint artist Shelby Meyerhoff

Shelby Meyerhoff’s liminal, liberating body painting

by Lydialyle Gibson

Archival photograph of John F. Kennedy as an undergraduate, circa 1939, studying papers

Fredrik Logevall, “JFK: Coming of Age…” excerpt

An unusual senior thesis

Producer Jeff Schaffer sits between star Larry David (left) and another cast member on the “Curb Your Enthusiasm” set.

TV writer and producer Jeff Schaffer talks shop

TV writer and producer Jeff Schaffer on how to be funny

by Stuart Miller

Photograph of Harvard president Lawrence S. Bacow

President Bacow on innovation in Allston

As SEAS moves to Allston, President Bacow highlights the University’s newest innovation hub.

by Lawrence S. Bacow

David Roberts seated outdoors on a stone wall by the Charles River

Adventure writer Dave Roberts

David Roberts: A lifetime of adventures, risks, and rewards

by Nell Porter-Brown