Tag: Harvard News

  • Nation & World

    Study examines association between caffeine, breast cancer risk

    Caffeine consumption does not appear to be associated with overall breast cancer risk, according to a report in the Oct. 13 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. However, there is a possibility of increased risk for women with benign breast disease or for tumors that are hormone-receptor negative or larger…

    2 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Sam Nunn to deliver inaugural McNamara Lecture at HKS

    Former Georgia Sen. Sam Nunn will deliver the inaugural Robert S. McNamara Lecture on War and Peace, titled “A Race Between Cooperation and Catastrophe,” at the Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) on Friday (Oct. 17).

    1 minute
  • Nation & World

    Robert Blendon awarded Warren J. Mitofsky Award

    Robert Blendon, a professor of health policy and political analysis in the Department of Health Policy and Management at the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH), has received the Warren J. Mitofsky Award for Excellence in Public Opinion Research for 2008. Blendon, who is also a professor in the Harvard Kennedy School and director of…

    1 minute
  • Nation & World

    Belfer Center’s new fellows to focus on energy policy, Dubai Initiative

    The Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) has announced the following new 2008-09 research fellows. These fellows will conduct research within the Belfer Center’s Energy Technology Innovation Policy (ETIP) research project and Dubai Initiative.

    5 minutes
  • Nation & World

    American Academy of Arts and Sciences inducts fellows

    Twenty Harvard University faculty members were inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (AAAS) at a ceremony at the academy on Oct. 11. The AAAS is one of the nation’s oldest and most prestigious honorary societies and independent policy research centers.

    2 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Weatherhead Center introduces 26 doctoral candidates for 2008-09

    Twenty-six doctoral candidates will be supported by the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs for the 2008-09 year. The associates come from a multidisciplinary group of advanced-degree candidates in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences’ departments of Anthropology, Economics, Government, History, Health Policy, Middle East Studies, Social Policy, and Sociology. All of the students are…

    4 minutes
  • Nation & World

    HSCI creates Web presence for research

    The Harvard Stem Cell Institute (HSCI) and the Harvard Initiative in Innovative Computing (IIC) have launched an online stem cell textbook that seeks to engage and inform the stem cell community as it presents up-to-date stem cell science in a format useful to scientists and students.

    3 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Hansjörg Wyss gives $125M to create institute

    Engineer, entrepreneur, and philanthropist Hansjörg Wyss, M.B.A. ’65 has given Harvard University $125 million to create the Hansjörg Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering.

    7 minutes
  • Nation & World

    History of human rights declaration is reviewed at CGIS

    In September 1948, representatives of 18 nations at the newly minted United Nations were inspired by the tumult and horror of World War II to create a Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).

    5 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Technique offers close-ups of electrons and nuclei

    Providing a glimpse into the infinitesimal, physicists have found a novel way to spy on some of the universe’s tiniest building blocks. Their “camera,” described this week (Oct. 1) in the journal Nature, consists of a special “flaw” in diamonds that can be manipulated into sensitively monitoring magnetic signals from individual electrons and atomic nuclei…

    4 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Harvard, MIT, Yale presses join forces to help rebuild Iraqi National Library

    Last week, more than 5,700 books were shipped from TriLiteral, the warehouse that holds inventory for Harvard University Press, The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Press, and Yale University Press, to help replenish the Iraqi National Library. The three presses have partnered with the Sabre Foundation, whose book donation program has a long history of…

    2 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Quinn talks to students of various faiths

    If she can help it, Washington Post journalist Sally Quinn prefers to avoid the phrase “spiritual journey.” Quinn, who co-moderates the blog “On Faith” with Newsweek editor Jon Meacham, finds the words overused. But she is quick to acknowledge that people’s relationship to faith can change over time — and having interviewed hundreds of scholars,…

    6 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Experts attempt to parse the ‘crisis in the markets’

    “We’ve been in a slow-motion train wreck … and now it’s just a train wreck.” This quip, by Jay Light, Dwight P. Robinson Jr. Professor of Business Administration and dean of Harvard Business School (HBS), was one of the observations offered at a panel discussion Sept. 25 intended to explain the Wall Street financial crisis…

    4 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Broad Institute gets major grant for epigenomics research

    Researchers at the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT announced Sept. 30 that they have received a grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to map the epigenomes of a variety of medically important cell types, including human embryonic stem cells.

    3 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Study abroad students have lots to say, in lots of languages

    Every fall, Harvard Yard comes alive with conversation as students greet old friends and recount how they spent the summer break. This year, with nearly 300 students participating in study abroad programs run by the Harvard Summer School, these encounters likely featured more foreign phrases and more exotic locales than in days past.

    8 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Faculty Council

    At its second meeting of the year on Sept. 24, the Faculty Council considered candidates for Parliamentarian for 2008-2009 and heard a proposal from the Standing Committee on Research Policy concerning principal investigators. The council next meets on Oct. 8. The preliminary deadline for the Oct. 21 Faculty meeting is Oct. 6 at 9:30 a.m.

    1 minute
  • Nation & World

    MessageMe subscribers re-register, first-time users sought

    Given the convenience and widespread acceptance of text messaging, the University is offering this form of correspondence as another technological solution for communicating with students, faculty, and staff in the event of an extreme emergency on campus. As part of the University Emergency Management Plan, the Harvard community can now sign up to receive text…

    1 minute
  • Nation & World

    Du Bois Institute announces new fellows

    Henry Louis Gates Jr., Alphonse Fletcher University Professor and director of Harvard’s W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research, has announced the appointment of 18 new institute fellows for the 2008-09 academic year.

    9 minutes
  • Nation & World

    David Korn named University’s vice provost for research

    David Korn, a longtime leader in research policy and science administration, will become the University’s vice provost for research, Provost Steven E. Hyman announced today (Sept. 15). A distinguished pathologist who was dean of the Stanford University School of Medicine for more than a decade, Korn has served since 1997 in senior roles at the…

    4 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Déjà vu marks Opening Exercises

    During the Saturday night (Sept. 6) downpour, brought on by tropical storm Hannah, a circuit breaker tripped, plunging Adams House into darkness. While Harvard electricians tracked down the problem, freshmen were sent over to the Science Center for food, movies, and an impromptu meeting with President Drew Faust.

    1 minute
  • Nation & World

    New ID cards make college life safer

    Just tap it. That’s this year’s first homework for returning undergraduates, new freshmen, and others in Harvard’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) who need access to FAS’s residential Houses and Harvard Yard dormitories. By the start of classes, about 10,000 members of the Harvard community will be issued ID cards that take advantage of…

    4 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Faculty Council notice

    At its first meeting of the year on Sept. 10, the Faculty Council welcomed new members, elected subcommittees for 2008-2009, and discussed the work of the council in the new academic year.

    1 minute
  • Nation & World

    MessageMe subscribers must re-register, first-time registrants sought

    Given the convenience and widespread acceptance of text messaging, the University is offering this form of correspondence as another technological solution for communicating with students, faculty, and staff in the event of an extreme emergency on campus. As part of the University Emergency Management Plan, the Harvard community can now sign up to receive text…

    1 minute
  • Nation & World

    Davis Center announces 2008-09 award recipients

    The Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies has announced its fellowship, prize, research travel grant, and internship recipients for the 2008-09 academic year.

    7 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Former diplomat Burns gets HKS appointment

    R. Nicholas Burns, the highest-ranking career diplomat at the U.S. Department of State until his retirement in April, has been appointed professor of the practice of diplomacy and international politics at the Harvard Kennedy School (HKS). Burns officially joined the faculty on Sept. 1. He will also serve on the board of directors at the…

    2 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Eli and Edythe Broad make unprecedented gift

    Los Angeles-based philanthropists Eli and Edythe Broad on Sept. 4 declared the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT an unprecedented success as an experiment in science and philanthropy and announced that they have increased their total gift to the Broad by $400 million to $600 million. The $400 million will be an endowment to convert…

    6 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Collider startup brings ATLAS to life

    Scientists at Harvard and around the world held their breath Wednesday (Sept. 10), as colleagues switched on the most powerful particle accelerator ever built, the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, the particle physics laboratory in Geneva.

    8 minutes
  • Nation & World

    HKS Asia Programs joins the Ash Institute

    The Ash Institute for Democratic Governance and Innovation and Asia Programs at Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) will announce a new partnership. Under the leadership of new institute director Tony Saich, Asia Programs became part of the Ash Institute on July 1. The new collaboration promises to leverage and expand the collective strength of both organizations.

    2 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Ash Institute honors city, state, federal programs with Innovations Awards

    The Ash Institute for Democratic Governance and Innovation at Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) recently announced the winners of the 2008 Innovations in American Government Awards. These six government initiatives — consisting of one city, three state, and two federal programs — were recently honored at an awards gala and reception at the U.S. Chamber of…

    4 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Herschbach, Bisson to assume new roles in Harvard College

    Georgene Herschbach, a longtime member of the Harvard community who has served the campus in a wide range of capacities, has been named to the new position of dean for administration in Harvard College, Dean Evelynn M. Hammonds and Jay Harris, dean of undergraduate education, jointly announced Aug. 19.

    4 minutes