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

Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin

Brief life of a breakthrough astronomer: 1900-1979

by Donovan Moore

Ways to cope with the federal debt

The politics, policymaking, and public consequences of mounting government debt—and how to cope with it

by Karen Dynan , Douglas Elmendorf

David Cutler on trimming U.S. healthcare costs

Administrative costs, greed, overutilization—can these drivers of U.S. medical costs be curbed?

by David Cutler

John Alexander follows the ups and downs of funk musician Rudy Love.

John Alexander follows the ups and downs of funk musician Rudy Love.

by Alex Huls

Rebecca Henderson, “Reimagining Capitalism” to save the planet

The Business School’s Rebecca Henderson reimagines capitalism to save the planet.

Novelist Paul Yoon and “Run Me to Earth”

Novelist Paul Yoon explores Laos’s forgotten war.

by Bailey Trela

Artistic director Joshua McTaggart and the redesigned Chelsea Theatre

Joshua McTaggart leads London’s Chelsea Theatre into a new era.

by Olivia Munk

“The Equivalents,” by Maggie Doherty, reviewed by Susan Ware

From “women’s confinement” to “women’s liberation” at the Radcliffe Institute

by Susan Ware

Butterfly wing secrets revealed in infrared

A study reveals new dimensions to their function and beauty.

by Bennett McIntosh

“Tightrope,” by Kristof and WuDunn, reviewed by Allison Pugh

Americans diminished by “social poverty”

by Allison Pugh