Alumni Profiles

Spotlight stories on alumni who are leading, innovating, and making a difference.

A woman with long hair leans on a table, looking out a large window with rain-streaked glass.

A Harvard Economist Probes the Affordable Housing Crisis

From understanding gender pay gaps to the housing crisis, Rebecca Diamond’s research aims to improve lives.

by Jonathan Shaw

Claudia Bedrick displays one of Enchanted Lion’s books.

Claudia Bedrick of Enchanted Lion Books for children

Claudia Bedrick ’85 of Enchanted Lion Books offers an international array of stories to young children.

by Kristen Strezo

Dewitt Jones seeks a fragile balance in financing community development.

Boston Community Capital's DeWitt Jones promotes affordable housing, energy efficiency, and a mortgage buyback program in low-income communities.

by Nell Porter-Brown

Sandra Goldmark and Michael Banta at Pop Up Repair, their experimental effort to begin a national dialogue about consumption

Sandra Goldmark's novel effort promotes repairing, not replacing, items

Sandra Goldmark ’97 puts the focus on repair, not replace.

by Kristen Strezo

“I don’t want Morehouse to just survive,” says its new president, John S. Wilson Jr., “I want it to thrive.”

Morehouse College president returns to rebuild ailing institution

John S. Wilson Jr. grabs the chance to realize his calling.

by Nell Porter-Brown

J.C. Buttre&rsquo;s portrait, probably drawn when Everett ran for vice president on the Constitutional Union Party ticket in 1860, links him to Harvard and George Washington, one of his favorite subjects. (His lectures raised more than $100,000 to help purchase Mount Vernon [see <a href="http://harvardmagazine.com/2011/05/granny-talk">“Granny Talk”</a>], and he wrote the entry on Washington for the 1860 <i>Encyclopaedia Britannica.</i>)

Brief life of statesman-orator Edward Everett, by Castle Freeman

Brief life of a statesman-orator: 1794-1865

An honorand and the principal guest speaker at the 2007 Commencement exercises, Bill Gates reveled in collecting his Harvard degree—30-plus years after he dropped out of the College.

Walter Isaacson on Microsoft's founder Bill Gates at Harvard

Walter Isaacson on "complete rejectionist" Bill Gates at Harvard College—and the birth of personal-computer software

At her gallery, Emma Katz promotes sophisticated original work by young artists such as sculptor/photographer David Rodriguez, represented here (left to right) by <i>A Love Song Played at a Very Specified Frequency, Holding Device,</i> and <i>The Thing About Distance.</i>

Emma Katz of Recession Art in Brooklyn is a fine-arts entrepreneur

Where inspired artists meet aspiring collectors

by Nell Porter-Brown

Catherine A. Gellert

Catherine A. Gellert is the new Harvard Alumni Association president

An energetic alumni leader emphasizes her “ability to listen.”

Diana Mara Henry

Photographer Diana Mara Henry publishes her collection "Women on the Move"

Photographer Diana Mara Henry ’69 publishes her collection Women on the Move.

by Kristen Strezo

Wilson’s vessel, <i>Great American III</i>. Wilson is barely visible just behind the cockpit at upper right.

sitesALIVE! founder Rich Wilson circles the globe—solo—under sail

Rich Wilson ’72 circled the globe—nonstop, solo, under sail—and has written the tale.

by Craig Lambert