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Art historian Seymour Slive, 93
Seymour Slive, Gleason Professor of Fine Arts Emeritus at Harvard and one of the world’s leading authorities on 17th-century Dutch painting, died in June at the age of 93. Slive had been battling cancer, but was present at Harvard’s May Commencement, where he received an honorary doctor of arts degree.
Scholarly access to all
Digital Access to Scholarship at Harvard, a free and open portal for the University’s peer-reviewed literature, is drawing more worldwide downloads than ever.
Academic boot camp
Harvard President Drew Faust welcomed to campus the Warrior-Scholar Project, an academic boot camp for veterans thinking of applying to college, while Professor Harvey C. Mansfield Jr. introduced the students to the two works he considers seminal to understanding American politics.
Filmmaker Robert Gardner, 88
Robert Gardner ’48, A.M. ’58, the noted anthropological filmmaker who founded the Peabody Museum’s Film Study Center, died of cardiac arrest at the age of 88.
5 named Harvard College Professors
Their scholarly interests range from the design of programming languages to health economics to the molecular changes that influence evolutionary fitness. One thing the five faculty members who were awarded Harvard College Professorships in recent weeks have in common is a gift for instilling passion for education in their students.
Robert Richardson Bowie
At a Meeting of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences on April 1, 2014, the Minute honoring the life and service of the Robert Richardson Bowie, Clarence Dillon Professor of International Affairs, Emeritus, was placed upon the records. Professor Bowie, who founded the Center for International Affairs, combined distinguished academic achievement with professional service at the highest levels of the U.S. government, including serving as general counsel to the U.S. High Commissioner for Germany after World War II, for which Germany awarded him the Commander’s Cross of the Order of Merit.
Nathan Keyfitz
At a Meeting of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences on February 4, 2014, the Minute honoring the life and service of the late Nathan Keyfitz, Andelot Professor of Sociology in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences and of Demography at the Harvard School of Public Health, Emeritus, was placed upon the records. Considered the preeminent mathematical demographer of his day, Professor Keyfitz was a pioneer in the application of mathematical methods to the study of populations.
James Thompson
At a Meeting of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences on November 5, 2013, the Minute honoring the life and service of the late James Burleigh Thompson, Jr., Sturgis Hooper Professor of Geology, Emeritus, was placed upon the records. Professor Thompson predicted the possible existence of several hypothetical silicate minerals that were subsequently found in nature. One of these, containing triple silicate chains, was aptly named jimthompsonite.
Wallace MacCaffrey
At a Meeting of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences on April 1, 2014, the Minute honoring the life and service of the Wallace Trevethic MacCaffrey, Francis Lee Higginson Professor of History, Emeritus, was placed upon the records. Professor MacCaffrey, a definitive authority on the reign of Queen Elizabeth, was awarded the American Historical Society’s Award for Scholarly Achievement in 2004.
Serafín Moralejo
At a Meeting of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences on December 3, 2013, the Minute honoring the life and service of the late Serafín Moralejo Álvarez, Fernando Zóbel de Ayala Professor of Fine Arts, was placed upon the records. Professor Moralejo, a distinguished scholar of medieval art, devoted the greater part of his energies to the magnificent sculptural traditions of the pilgrimage route of Saint James.
John Peter Huchra
At a Meeting of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences on April 1, 2014, the Minute honoring the life and service of the late John Peter Huchra, Robert O. and Holly Thomis Doyle Professor of Cosmology, was placed upon the records. Professor Huchra pioneered the exploration of the universe through redshift surveys at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and played an instrumental role in the establishment of the current rate of cosmic expansion, the key ingredient in establishing the age of the Universe.
James Newton Butler
At a Meeting of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences on October 1, 2013, the Minute honoring the life and service of the late James Newton Butler, Gordon McKay Professor of Applied Chemistry, Emeritus, was placed upon the records. Professor Butler was acclaimed for his research on ionic equilibrium and pelagic tar in the North Atlantic Ocean and Sargasso Sea.
Abramson Award to Spirling, Combes
Arthur Spirling, the John L. Loeb Associate Professor of the Social Sciences in the Government Department, and Stacey Combes, associate professor of organismic and evolutionary biology, are this year’s winners of the Roslyn Abramson Award.
Summertime, and the reading is easy
A look at what Harvard faculty members will be reading in their downtime this summer.
Survey finds faculty satisfaction rate at 81 percent
The vast majority of Harvard faculty report that they are satisfied with their positions here, according to the latest Faculty Climate Survey released today by the Office for Faculty Development and Diversity.
Faculty Council meeting held May 14
On May 14 the members of the Faculty Council met in camera to discuss a student disciplinary case.
Faculty Council meeting held April 30
On April 30 the members of the Faculty Council approved preliminary versions of the University Extension School courses for 2014-15 and Courses of Instruction for 2014-15.
Kovac makes a ‘Big Bang’ on Time’s list
Time magazine has named John Kovac to the 2014 Time 100, its list of the 100 most influential people in the world.
For writers and students, a break from solitude
Writers in the Parlor connects accomplished novelists and story writers with students.
Faculty Council meeting held April 9
On April 9 the members of the Faculty Council discussed multi-year financial planning and continued their conversation about University finances.
Advising on climate change
In addition to conducting research and teaching about climate, energy, and the environment, Harvard faculty members also serve as expert advisers to policymakers, putting their science to work to improve laws and regulations and to foster understanding between the worlds of government and academics.
Less energy, more creativity
Two teams of students at Harvard’s Graduate School of Design provided a close look — part celebration, part cerebration — at two house designs that won international competitions.
Faculty Council meeting held March 26
On March 26 the members of the Faculty Council approved a proposal on course credits and a proposal regarding academic integrity. They also continued their discussion on simultaneous enrollment.
Teaching on campus and off
Harvard lecturer Tim McCarthy teaches a free American history course to low-income adult students as part of the Clemente Course in the Humanities, for which he now holds the first endowed chair.
Faculty Council meeting held Feb. 26
On Feb. 26 the members of the Faculty Council approved a proposal to change the name of the undergraduate concentration organismic and evolutionary biology to integrative biology. They also heard a report from the Committee to Study the Faculty Council Election Procedures and a presentation on the University’s financial context.
Out of disaster, a new design
A team of students from Harvard’s Graduate School of Design, just back from Japan, took home first prize in an international competition for solutions to sustainable recovery in a region of Japan devastated by a triple disaster in 2011.
Big skies, dusty trails
“Fortunes of the Western,” a new series at the Harvard Film Archive, draws back the curtain on the golden age of Westerns following World War II. The series continues through March 22.
Bernard Berenson, recalled
Harvard’s Villa I Tatti, a treasure of Italian Renaissance scholarship since 1961, has launched an oral history site on its origins with Bernard Berenson, Class of 1887, and its transition from villa to a center for scholars.
Faculty Council meeting held Feb. 5
On Feb. 5 the members of the Faculty Council met in camera to discuss three student disciplinary cases.
Faculty Council meeting held Jan. 29
On Jan. 29 the members of the Faculty Council heard reports from the Committee on Academic Integrity and the Committee on Outside Activities in the Online Environment.
‘The Thinking Hand’
A visit by a master of traditional Japanese carpentry launches an unusual Harvard exhibit of tools, techniques, and woods that have been used for centuries.
Architectural fever dreams
Master’s degree students in architecture present thesis topics in a traditional daylong January event that draws critical crossfire and praise.
A tribute to Robert Levin: The practice of performance
"A composer puts a mirror to the audience and asks us to recognize ourselves. It’s the same as with great plays. Music is no less serious just because it ...
Core objectives
Harvard Graduate School of Education Professor Paul Reville talks about the new national standards for K-12 education, known as the Common Core State Standards, and the recent controversy surrounding their implementation.
Faculty Council meeting held Nov. 20
On Nov. 20 the members of the Faculty Council approved the Harvard Summer School course list for 2014.
Northern exposure
Harvard Kennedy School Professor Michael Ignatieff talks about why he put aside academia to make an improbable and ill-fated foray into Canadian politics.
A Paris errand
At a UNESCO ceremony in Paris, Harvard literary scholar Homi K. Bhabha underscored the global need for a “new humanism” that peacefully connects a culturally diverse world.
Change is on the runway
A Harvard conference will emphasize the rising influence of landscape architects in airport design and decommissioning.
A poet’s own epitaphs
Two months after his death, poet Seamus Heaney returned to Harvard, in spirit, for a celebration by friends who loved him “on and off the page.”
Professor Robert R. Bowie dies at 104
Robert R. Bowie, the Clarence Dillon Professor of International Affairs Emeritus and founder and first director of the Center for International Affairs (now the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs) died Nov. 2 at the age of 104.
Faith, hope, and government
In Washington, D.C., two Harvard deans faced off in a discussion, “Religion and Politics in a World of Conflict,” explaining how leadership is vital to many nations to maintain a steady, open, middle path to resolving differences.
National digital library gains traction
The Digital Public Library of America, with Harvard in its heritage, celebrates its first six months with an idea conference in Boston.
The digital Dickinson
Houghton Library and Harvard University Press are two of the leading partners in the new Emily Dickinson Archive, a joint venture with other institutions that brings together most of her poem manuscripts.
Nine named 2013 Cabot Fellows
Nine professors in Harvard’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences have been named Walter Channing Cabot Fellows. The 2013 honorees were awarded for their distinguished publications.
Poetry spreads its web
At month’s end, Professor Elisa New will begin teaching “Poetry in America,” her first digital course on HarvardX.
Faculty Council meeting held Oct. 16
On Oct. 16 the members of the Faculty Council heard a review of the life sciences concentrations and discussed library journal pricing. They also heard an ...
Howard Gardner: ‘A Blessing of Influences’
One of an occasional story in which Harvard faculty members recount their early influences, Howard Gardner recalls the mentors who helped to shape his early academic career.
The poetry of water
Harvard anthropologist Steven Caton made his name studying tribal poetry in Yemen three decades ago. But it was memories of a tribal war that drew him back to that nation in 2001, and the scarcity of water he discovered there launched him into a new avenue of investigation.
At Du Bois awards, the stars aligned
The six medalists at the W.E.B. Du Bois awards included a White House adviser Valerie Jarrett, playwright Tony Kushner, U.S. Rep. John Lewis, Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court Sonia Sotomayor, the commissioner of the NBA David Stern, and Hollywood director Steven Spielberg.
Biography of a bronze
September marked the 375th anniversary of benefactor John Harvard’s death, and the beginning of a course that uses his statue in Harvard Yard to instruct students about the realities of two vanished eras.