Lydialyle Gibson

Lydialyle Gibson has been an associate editor at Harvard Magazine since 2015. She edits the Montage profiles, about alumni in the arts, and writes about a variety of topics, including arts and medicine—especially where the two intersect, as in her features about Harvard physician-writers Rafael Campo and Stuart Harris. In the January-February 2025 issue, she wrote “Caring for the Caregivers,” about the experiences of people caring for loved ones with dementia—read her Behind the Scenes about that story. She also covers politics and history, with a special emphasis on African American history, and since 2022 has reported on the Harvard and the Legacy of Slavery Initiative. Before coming to Harvard, she was an editor and writer at the University of Chicago Magazine. Her writing has won numerous awards, including several national awards from CASE. She holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Northwestern University and a master’s in creative writing from Johns Hopkins University.

A Major Disparity in Massachusetts Criminal Justice

Harvard Law School researchers identify the mechanisms that lead to longer sentences for nonwhite defendants.

Harvard Portrait: Venkatesh Murthy

A brief look at what animals’ sense of smell reveals about the brain

Profile of Megha Majumdar and her smash debut novel, “A Burning”

Megha Majumdar’s novel of India resonates in the United States.

Harvard University Press releases “Racism in America: A Reader”

Harvard University Press releases a new book, Racism in America: A Reader, free online.

Bringing Black History to Light

A Houghton Library project to digitize thousands of African-American records and artifacts

Much Bigger Than the Police

A Radcliffe Institute panel examines the protest movement against police violence and structural racism.

Harvard Scientists #Strike4BlackLives

Academia’s reckoning with anti-black racism

“Lives in Limbo”—Roberto Gonzales tallies the human and social costs

Sociologist Roberto Gonzales on the predicament of undocumented young people

“To Heal and to Help”

Harvard medical- and dental-school graduates on the front lines of a worldwide crisis

“Disasters Sift out the Resilient”

At Harvard Business School’s virtual class day, a call for a new Marshall Plan