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.

The Return of History

Ukrainian scholar Serhii Plokhy on the war in his home country

Getting His Reps in

Anwar Floyd-Pruitt’s wildly profuse art

A Bioethics View of Brain Organoids

Philosopher Insoo Hyun on one of the fastest moving fields in science. 

A New Contract for HUCTW

A year-plus of hard-fought negotiations yield pay raises and other benefits for union members.

“This Beautiful Machine”

Paola Arlotta’s organoids provide a window into the human brain.

More “Cooperative” Than “Corporate”

A Radcliffe Day panel discusses women’s leadership in global healthcare.

“We Only Have One Planet”

Ban Ki-moon at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Class Day

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