HSPH’s Hanna Machlup Hastings dies at 78

Hanna Hastings, former House master and Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) administrator, died on June 15 at the age of 78. She suffered from an advanced stage of Parkinson’s disease.

Her husband, J. Woodland “Woody” Hastings, is the Paul C. Mangelsdorf Professor of Natural Sciences in Harvard’s Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology.

Hastings, the daughter of Mitzi and Fritz Machlup, was born in 1930 in Vienna, Austria. In 1935, her family emigrated to the United States, and Hastings was later educated at the Sidwell Friends School in Washington, D.C., and Swarthmore College. After graduate work at Johns Hopkins University, she earned advanced degrees from the University of Illinois, Boston College, and the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Hanna and Woody were married in the early 1950s and had four children.

The two were House masters at North (now Pforzheimer) House for 20 years, stepping down in 1996. During that time Hastings was director of student affairs at HSPH and a member of the Harvard Medical School Admissions Committee.

Hastings, an avid exerciser, had a passion for cycling, skiing, and swimming. Fluent in German and French, she engaged in music, theater, art, and politics, and traveled widely.

A memorial service is planned for the fall at Pforzheimer House.