All articles


  • Campus & Community

    HKS presents awards to 10 tribal governments

    Ten tribal governments were honored on Oct. 21 by Harvard’s Honoring Contributions in the Governance of American Indian Nations (Honoring Nations) awards program. Five of the governments received a “High Honors” award of $20,000 and five others received an “Honors” award of $10,000 in recognition of their good governance achievements. Hundreds of guests attended the…

  • Campus & Community

    This month in Harvard history

    Oct. 26, 1952 — Democratic presidential candidate Adlai Stevenson worships at the First Parish Church in Harvard Square and visits President James Bryant Conant afterwards in Massachusetts Hall.

  • Health

    Obama voters much more likely to believe outcome will impact health care

    As part of the ongoing poll series “Debating Health: Election 2008,” the Harvard Public Opinion Research Program at the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) and Harris Interactive conducted a new survey focused on whether voters believe the results of this presidential election will make “a great deal of difference” in the state of the…

  • Campus & Community

    Distinguished mathematician Andrew Gleason dies at 86

    Andrew Gleason, professor emeritus of the Mathematics Department, perhaps best known for his contribution to solving Hilbert’s Fifth problem, died Oct. 17 of complications following surgery. He was 86.

  • Campus & Community

    ‘Gen Ed’ connects students to outside world

    As Harvard College ramps up for the official launch of the new Program in General Education — better known as “Gen Ed” — in September 2009, undergraduates are matriculating in the first round of courses related to the new curriculum. Six courses are being offered in the Gen Ed curriculum this fall, with nine others…

  • Campus & Community

    Fall commences motley fete

    If “April is the cruellest month,” as T.S. Eliot wrote in his poem “The Wasteland” — then November is certainly the most marvelous. Judging from the glorious display of fall foliage in a Harvard Yard stimulated by chill breezes and hosting a thousand squirrels, this year’s turning leaves are a short-lived sight to behold.

  • Campus & Community

    Call for Holyoke Center artists

    Harvard University employees who work at Holyoke Center are invited to participate in the ninth annual Holyoke Center Group Art Exhibition, displayed in the Holyoke Center exhibition space from Dec. 5 through Jan. 7. The goal of the exhibition is to showcase the artistic talents and creativity of the staff of the Holyoke Center and…

  • Campus & Community

    Home buying seminar Nov. 6

    Susan Keller of Harvard Real Estate Services is holding seminars on Nov. 6 and Dec. 4 from 12-1:30 p.m. titled “Home Buying Seminar & Obtaining a Mortgage: Tips to Assist You with This Process.” The programs will be at Mt. Auburn Street, Room 3311, and feel free to bring a lunch. Registration is required. To…

  • Campus & Community

    Day of the Dead celebration

    Harvard’s Peabody Museum of Archeology and Ethnography will come alive in a unique way Nov. 2 when it joins the Consulate General of Mexico in Boston in hosting a celebration of the traditional Mexican holiday Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead).

  • Campus & Community

    Dunster House calls for soloists

    Dunster House seeks vocal soprano, alto, tenor, and bass soloists for its 36th annual Messiah Sing, scheduled for the evening of Dec. 11. One soloist for each voice part will be selected to perform. Auditions are scheduled Nov. 8 from 10 a.m. to noon in Dunster House. To sign up for an audition or for…

  • Campus & Community

    Financial resources forum set

    In response to concerns about the economy and the recent turbulence in world financial markets, Harvard Human Resources will hold a Financial Resources Forum Nov. 3 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the ballroom of the Charles Hotel.

  • Health

    Researchers gain ground in treatment options for disfiguring tumor

    A team of researchers led by Harvard School of Dental Medicine (HSDM) Dean for Research Bjorn Olsen has discovered a mechanism for the rapid growth seen in infantile hemangioma, the most common childhood tumor.

  • Health

    New Guinea forest expands ‘observatory’

    Just getting there takes hours of hot, sweaty hiking through lowland Papua New Guinea forests: three hours from the road to the base camp, then another seven to the site. That’s when the real work begins: tagging, measuring, and identifying 250,000 trees scattered over 50 hectares.

  • Science & Tech

    Lecture ‘Can’t you see I’m busy’ addresses ‘interruption management’

    You’ve opened a Microsoft Word document and are just about to write. Feel good? No. Instead of inspiration, along comes Clippy, the annoying little pop-up man with his bobbing eyebrows and balloon full of intrusive questions. “It looks like you’re writing a letter. Would you like help?”

  • Science & Tech

    Solar system’s twin has two asteroid belts

    Astronomers have discovered that the nearby star Epsilon Eridani has two rocky asteroid belts and an outer icy ring, making it a triple-ring system. The inner asteroid belt is a virtual twin of the belt in our solar system, while the outer asteroid belt holds 20 times more material. Moreover, the presence of these three…

  • Campus & Community

    Electoral expert will be CBS pundit

    In Stephen Ansolabehere’s sunlit, minimalist Cambridge Street office, there’s a wide, wall-high shelf of books — not a remarkable circumstance for a Harvard professor.

  • Campus & Community

    Twelve new Administrative Fellows announced for 2008-09

    Continuing the legacy of a flagship leadership development fellowship for high-potential academic administrators of color, 12 new fellows have been selected for the 2008-09 class of the Administrative Fellowship Program (AFP). The seven visiting fellows are talented professionals drawn from business, education, and the professions outside the University, while the five resident fellows are exceptional…

  • Science & Tech

    Records dating back to Thoreau show some sharp shifts in plant flowering near Walden Pond

    Drawing on records dating back to the journals of Henry David Thoreau, scientists at Harvard University have found that different plant families near Walden Pond in Concord, Mass., have borne…

  • Science & Tech

    Solar system’s young twin has two asteroid belts

    Astronomers have discovered that the nearby star Epsilon Eridani has two rocky asteroid belts and an outer icy ring, making it a triple-ring system. The inner asteroid belt is a…

  • Science & Tech

    Gore: Universities have important role in sustainability

    Former vice president Al Gore ’69 addressed a crowd of 15,000 in chilly, leaf-strewn Tercentenary Theatre Oct. 22, 2008, delivering the keynote address in a multi-day celebration of the University’s commitment to sustainability.

  • Campus & Community

    Kuwait Program Research Fund accepting proposals

    The Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) has announced the 15th funding cycle for the Kuwait Program Research Fund, which is supported by the Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences (KFAS). An HKS faculty committee will consider applications for one-year grants (up to $30,000) and larger grants for more extensive proposals to support advanced research by…

  • Campus & Community

    Joseph J. Schildkraut

    For a period during the late 1950s and 1960s, psychiatry attracted some of the most capable graduates of US medical schools. Intrigued by the conceptual interest of psychoanalytic theory, and the possibility of treatment via the couch, these students chose for residency departments of psychiatry that featured grounding in psychoanalysis. One of these was Joe…

  • Health

    Gene therapy restores vision to mice with retinal degeneration

    Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) researchers have used gene therapy to restore useful vision to mice with degeneration of the light-sensing retinal rods and cones, a common cause of human blindness. Their report, appearing in the Oct. 14 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, describes the effects of broadly expressing a light-sensitive protein in other…

  • Health

    Global ‘chump change’ could provide biodiversity protection

    Harvard biologist Edward O. Wilson said the Earth’s major biological hot spots could be conserved for roughly $50 billion— an amount he termed “chump change” in a world of trillion-dollar financial bailouts.

  • Science & Tech

    GSD lecture and panel address ‘Designing for Sustainability’

    Interest in green building is high at the Harvard Graduate School of Design (GSD), judging by the attendance at a lecture Tuesday (Oct. 21) in the Stubbins Room at Gund Hall. “Designing for Sustainability” was part of the popular and event-packed sustainability celebration instituted this year by Harvard President Drew Faust.

  • Health

    ‘Death protein’ may lead to drugs that force cancer cells to self-destruct

    Scientists at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute have identified a previously undetected trigger point on a naturally occurring “death protein” that helps the body get rid of unwanted or diseased cells. They say it may be possible to exploit the newly found trigger as a target for designer drugs that would treat cancer by forcing malignant cells…

  • Campus & Community

    Men’s soccer keep winning, unbeaten in Ivies

    After opening the season at No. 20, Harvard soccer (7-3; 3-0 Ivy League) is back in the rankings at No. 22, coming off big road wins against No. 24 Brown (8-3-1; 2-1-0) and Holy Cross (6-3-3). Harvard, which defeated Brown 4-1 and Holy Cross 3-0, is the last undefeated team in Ivy play this year.…

  • Campus & Community

    Celebration honors faculty and staff for 25 years of service to the University

    One hundred fourteen Harvard employees were honored on Monday (Oct. 20) for reaching a milestone: 25 years of service to the University. The 54th annual 25 Year Recognition Ceremony — a unique event in that it recognizes both faculty and staff from across the entire University — was held at Sanders Theatre.

  • Campus & Community

    Harvard Art Museum receives major gift from Emily Rauh Pulitzer

    Harvard University today (Oct. 17) announced that the Harvard Art Museum has received a gift of 31 major works of modern and contemporary art and $45 million from Harvard alumna Emily Rauh Pulitzer, a former Harvard Art Museum curator, longtime supporter and friend of the museum and of Harvard, and wife of the late Joseph…

  • Campus & Community

    John U. Monro portrait is unveiled at PBH

    The Harvard Foundation for Intercultural and Race Relations has unveiled a ninth portrait in its Minority Portraiture Project. The latest honoree on canvas is John U. Monro, former dean of Harvard College. Monro’s portrait, painted by Stephen Coit ’71, was unveiled last week (Oct. 16) in Phillips Brooks House.