Alumni Profiles

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

Catherine Zipf smiling, wearing striped shirt and dark sweater outdoors.

Preserving the History of Jim Crow Era Safe Havens

Architectural historian Catherine Zipf is building a database of Green Book sites.  

by Lydialyle Gibson

Ellen Faran and Gita Manaktala

Ellen Faran and Gita Manaktala of MIT Press

Ellen Faran ’73 and Gita Manaktala ’87 advance knowledge through publishing.

by Katherine Xue

Carl Muller

New Harvard Alumni Association president Carl Muller

Meet Harvard Alumni Association president Carl Muller.

by Nell Porter-Brown

David Jones

Short profile of David Jones, Ackerman professor of the culture of medicine

David Jones, Ackerman professor of the culture of medicine, works in both history and medicine.

Seiji Ozawa Hall at Tanglewood, the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, in Lenox, Massachusetts. The hall opened in 1994. With the “barn door” open, picnickers enjoy a concert.

Architect William Rawn, who designs buildings for the public realm, is profiled

William Rawn’s designs begin not with the eye, but the ear.

by Craig Lambert

Ronald Reagan wrote in his presidential diary for September 12, 1988: “Then a briefing for a pleasant interview which took place at 11:30 with Warren Brooks [sic] my favorite Ec. columnist.”

Warren Brookes, "pneumatic" journalist, by Charles G. Kels

Brief life of a “pneumatic” journalist: 1929-1991

by Charles G. Kels

Kathy Perkins

Kathy Perkins of PhET Interactive Simulations promotes science education

Kathy Perkins ’92 fosters science education.

by Katherine Xue

John West with his children—Georgia (20 months), Jack (8 years), and Danny (5 years)—at-hand audience members for, and friendly critics of, The Whistle

The Whistle, an interactive venture, aims to capture the sporting kid market

An entrepreneur’s multimedia ESPN for kids, “the next generation of sports fans”

by Nell Porter-Brown

For 15 years, William Francis Gibbs greeted the SS <i>United States</i> every time the liner he had designed arrived in New York City.

Naval architect William Francis Gibbs, designer of the SS United States

Brief life of America’s greatest naval architect: 1886-1967

by Steven Ujifusa

Deborah Smullyan

Harvard Magazine obituaries editor Deborah Smullyan spotlighted

Obituaries editor Deborah Smullyan ’72 in the spotlight

The 1931 Picasso painting <i>Nude, Green Leaves and Bust</i> being auctioned at Christie’s in 2010. The sale price of $106 million set a world record.

Brooke Lampley heads modern and impressionist art at Christie's

Brooke Lampley '02 heads modern and impressionist art at Christie's.

by Craig Lambert