University News

Breaking developments, leadership announcements, and policy changes from across Harvard’s schools and administration.

A portrait of Harvard faculty member Willy Shih

Five Questions with Willy Shih

A Harvard Business School professor unpacks the economics of semiconductors.

by Olivia Farrar

Princeton Details Endowment Results and Spending-Reduction Plans

Princeton has detailed a prospective 25 percent decline in its endowment and resulting restraint in its operating and capital budgets--in line with the steps taken by Yale, and indicative of the actions Harvard administrators may formulate.

Law School Dean Kagan Nominated To Be U.S. Solicitor General

Elena Kagan, dean of Harvard Law School since 2003, will be nominated to serve as Solicitor General by President-elect Barack Obama.

As the Business School trains leaders, Drew Faust asked, how can Harvard best determine “the sort of differences they will make?”

Educating Professionals

In speeches at Harvard Business School and Harvard Law School, President Drew Faust outlines her vision of professional education, service, and responsibility.

Harder Times

An update on the University’s initial responses to the worsening economic climate

Charles S. Maier

Educating Students for Life

Harvard College rolls out the new general education curriculum for undergraduates.

AL GORE ’69, LL.D. ’94, filled Tercentenary Theatre on October 22 when he spoke about sustainability. Noting that the impressive turnout on a raw fall day—free soup, cider, and apple crisp notwithstanding—indicated “deep and broad commitment to addressing this issue,” Gore said, “There is an African proverb that says, ‘If you want to go quickly, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.’ We have to go far, quickly.”

Gore Boosts a Greener Harvard

With a public appearance and speech in Tercentenary Theatre, Nobel Prize-winning environmental activist Al Gore ’69, LL.D. ’94, helped launch Harvard’s commitment to sustainability.

Brevia

News of the University and the Harvard community

Samuel P. Huntington

Samuel P. Huntington Dies at Age 81

Political scientist Samuel P. Huntington died on December 24.

Harvard Borrows $2.5 Billion: The Costs and Rationale

The University moved quickly to sell new bond issues, to refund existing short-term debt, to increase financial flexibility, and as it turns out to extricate itself from expensive interest-rate swap agreements.

Ferran Adrià, dubbed the father of molecular gastronomy, pauses to let molecular geneticist Roberto Kolter (at right) translate during Adrià’s public lecture at Harvard.

Up Next: The Harvard Center for Gastrophysics?

With his creative cuisine, Ferran Adrià probes the intersection of science and cooking. On a visit to campus last week, the world-renowned chef taught undergraduates, visited science labs, and signed an agreement for an ongoing collaboration with Harvard.