Month: September 2013

  • Nation & World

    Women in the law

    Hundreds of women convened at Harvard Law School for a weekend event celebrating 60 years of women at the institution.

    4 minutes
  • Nation & World

    A scholar’s brush with religious ire

    Reza Aslan, whose book “Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth” soared on the best-seller lists after an infamous Fox News interview last summer, spoke at Harvard Divinity School, saying that while he is a Muslim, he also is “a follower of Jesus.”

    4 minutes
  • Nation & World

    A strong, new voice

    On Oct. 9, 2012, Taliban gunmen shot 15-year-old Malaa Yousafzai in the head as she rode home from school on a bus. She was simply trying education. On Sept. 27, Yousafzai was in Cambridge to receive the 2013 Peter J. Gomes Humanitarian of the Year Award.

    5 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Following his passion

    Last month, Tim Linden strolled the streets of São Paulo, close to his home and not far from Harvard’s David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies’ Brazil office, where he works as an analyst. He talked about his longstanding connection to the center and his work with underserved children.

    4 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Flu’s coming, but which kind?

    With a new flu virus appearing in China in April and a new SARS-like respiratory ailment appearing in the Middle East, the Gazette sat down with Harvard epidemiologist Marc Lipsitch to talk about the upcoming flu season.

    10 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Fresh hopes on climate change

    A top U.N. climate official said doom and gloom on the issue is just part of the story and that there are many innovative programs and products that provide reasons for hope.

    4 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Positioned against protectionism

    Speaking at Harvard, a top European Union official rejected a return to past protectionist trade policies to shelter struggling European companies during difficult economic times, calling instead for a more open global economy.

    3 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Weissmans offer ‘a life-changing experience’

    For Paul Weissman ’52 and his wife, Harriet, the Weissman International Internship Program has been an incredibly rewarding experience, one that connects them with new students every year.

    2 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Windows on the world

    On Thursday, alumni, students, faculty, and staff honored Paul and Harriet Weissman for supporting the international program, named after them, that sends College students oversees to work and experience life.

    3 minutes
  • Nation & World

    The jazz orchestra, brick by brick

    Jazz trumpeter and composer Wynton Marsalis and his Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra treated a Sanders Theatre audience to a master class Thursday evening that re-created a pivotal quarter century of jazz innovation.

    4 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Seeing light in a new way

    Working with colleagues at the Harvard-MIT Center for Ultracold Atoms, Professor of Physics Mikhail Lukin and post-doctoral fellow Ofer Firstenberg have managed to coax photons into binding together to form molecules — a state of matter that, until recently, had been purely theoretical.

    5 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Deconstructing motor skills

    Harvard researchers have found that the brain uses two largely independent neural circuits to learn spatial and temporal aspects of complex motor skills.

    4 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Nobel laureate Hubel dies at 87

    Harvard Medical School Professor David H. Hubel, whose discoveries in visual processing and development ushered in the modern study of the cerebral cortex and changed the way childhood cataracts and strabismus (“cross-eye”) were treated, died on Sept. 22 of kidney failure in Lincoln, Mass. He was 87.

    1 minute
  • Nation & World

    Following the missteps of giants

    Blunders by otherwise great scientists took center stage at the Barker Center on Sept. 25 when a faculty panel posed questions to Hubble Space Telescope Science Institute Senior Astrophysicist Mario Livio about his latest book on the subject.

    5 minutes
  • Nation & World

    75 and getting younger

    As the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard celebrates its 75th anniversary, the institution firmly embraces the changes and uncertainties of journalism’s future.

    6 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Narrative of the body, with a nasty twist

    Many modern chronic diseases result from mismatches between how our bodies evolved to be used and how we use them today, Harvard evolutionary biologist Daniel Lieberman writes in a new book.

    6 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Programming genetic code can lead to better designer genes

    The key to programming bacteria to follow orders has been found in its protein production. Researchers have learned that by using more rare words, or codons, near the start of a gene, they can remove roadblocks to protein production. The knowledge may mean new drugs and biofuels.

    5 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Citizen of the world

    In recent years, Harvard has been strengthening its presence around the world, supporting international research, offering study-abroad opportunities, and opening offices in India, China, Mexico, Brazil, and other countries.

    6 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Faculty Council meeting held Sept. 25

    On Sept. 25 the Faculty Council nominated a Parliamentarian for the 2013-14 academic year and heard a presentation on post-retirement health benefits and tax-deferred accounts.  They also previewed the dean’s…

    1 minute
  • Nation & World

    A professorship and a MacArthur

    Jazz musician and composer Vijay Iyer, who won a MacArthur Foundation grant, in January will become the first Franklin D. and Florence Rosenblatt Professor of the Arts in Harvard’s Department of Music.

    5 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Libraries coming together

    Sarah Thomas, the new vice president of the Harvard Library, will now also oversee the libraries of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. The appointment signals a move toward a more unified and coordinated library system.

    7 minutes
  • Nation & World

    A foundation for future research

    Harvard researchers recently developed the most detailed “specificity profile” for Cas9 — a “machine” made of protein and RNA that can be programmed to target specific DNA sequences and to precisely cut, paste, and turn on or turn off genes. Future researchers will use the data when developing genetic tools and therapies.

    5 minutes
  • Nation & World

    The watchword is innovation

    Innovation, whether it’s large, small, solo, or institutional, is an increasingly important part of Harvard, a university working to maintain its clearly defined sense of self and at the same time evolve to meet future needs.

    9 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Seasoned with salsa

    This month, the Harvard Allston Education Portal has been offering dance lessons from Marco Perez-Moreno, a Harvard alumnus and professional ballroom dancer.

    4 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Move over, Gutenberg

    After months of construction, a “video capture studio” is near completion at Widener Library as part of Harvard’s commitment to exploring, innovating, experimenting, and leading change in how faculty members teach and students learn.

    6 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Harvard University endowment earns 11.3% return for fiscal year

    Harvard University announced today that its endowment posted an 11.3 percent return and was valued at $32.7 billion for the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2013.

    2 minutes
  • Nation & World

    A 21st-century campus

    Supporting the development of a robust campus, one that enhances Harvard’s mission of innovative teaching and learning, while simultaneously fostering connections across the University and the broader community will be an important goal of The Harvard Campaign.

    6 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Honan Race gains ground

    Almost 700 Harvard-affiliated athletes sponsored by Harvard Public Affairs & Communications and the Harvard Business School were among the 1,800 runners in the annual Brian J. Honan 5K Road Race on Sunday. The race benefits the Brian J. Honan Charitable Fund.

    4 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Where students own their education

    The class Applied Physics 50 is grounded in a teaching philosophy that banishes lectures and encourages hands-on exploration, presenting a collection of best practices gleaned from decades of teaching experience and studious visits to college physics classrooms nationwide.

    5 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Bright lights, big impact

    Harvard’s facility managers are working to improve energy systems and performance in their buildings. Their efforts, which include installing better equipment, are focused on ensuring that buildings operate as efficiently as possible.

    5 minutes