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.

In Defense of Academic Freedom

Natalie Diaz and Adam Falk at the Phi Beta Kappa Exercises

The 2023 Pulitzer Prizes

Carl Phillips and Hua Hsu honored in poetry and memoir

Finding the Descendants of Enslavement

An update on the Harvard Slavery Remembrance Program, an HBCU library partnership, and curricula for teaching difficult institutional history

Harvey Mansfield’s Last Class

After 60 years on the faculty, Harvard’s famous conservative is retiring.

Acting on Slavery’s Legacy

A campus memorial, a senior adviser on engaging with HBCUs, reaching out to descendants, and teaching what has been learned

Roger Fu

A paleomagnetics scholar who uses ancient rocks to peer into the early lives of Earth and Mars

An Academic Worker’s Union?

Organizing efforts and tough wage negotiations on campus

Finding the Movie

Screenwriter Julian Breece on “writing from the soul”

Making Art behind Bars

Formerly imprisoned artists discuss practice, community, and mass incarceration.

Global Health Pioneer Ophelia Dahl to Receive 2023 Radcliffe Medal

The human rights advocate co-founded Partners In Health in 1987.

Adrian Piper to Receive Harvard Arts Medal

Spanning more than 50 years, the conceptual artist’s work explores race, class, gender, and identity.

Ruth Simmons to Join Harvard as Senior Adviser

The former Brown University president will focus on partnerships with HBCUs.