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Campus & Community
Hau awarded prestigious Ledlie
In early 2007, Lene Hau’s “trick of the light,” stopping and switching off a light pulse in one part of space and then rekindling it in another location, gave the public and experts alike pause — just enough time to let in wonder.
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Science & Tech
Island nation president plans for extinction
The leader of the South Pacific island nation of Kiribati laid out an extraordinary plan Monday (Sept. 22) that would scatter his people through the nations of the world as rising sea levels submerge the islands they have called home for centuries.
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Health
Seeing what they hear, to better understand ourselves
It was a long drive from St. Louis to Florida, but Darlene Ketten had finally made it. Standing in the warm surf of St. George Island, she watched with delight as tiny, colorful bean clams popped out of the sand and then quickly reburied themselves as the waves foamed around her calves.
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Campus & Community
Ken Burns to headline Theodore Roosevelt celebration
Theodore Roosevelt is considered a principal architect of the U.S. national park system. To help mark his 150th birthday this fall, noted filmmaker Ken Burns will come to Harvard to offer remarks and show clips from his upcoming documentary, “The National Parks: America’s Best Idea,” due out in fall 2009. Scheduled for Oct. 3 at…
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Health
Health, rights journal open to all
December will mark the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, a United Nations convention that in 30 articles memorializes basic freedoms involving speech, property, health, security, and the rule of law.
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Nation & World
IOP expands youth effort chronicling ’08 race
Harvard’s Institute of Politics (IOP) recently announced a nationwide expansion of its Campus Voices project, an effort started last fall allowing college students to share their experiences and activities tracking the people and events of the 2008 presidential race. The institute has now expanded the project to serve as a place where students across the…
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Campus & Community
Memorial services
Houthakker memorial today The University community is invited to attend a memorial service at the Memorial Church for Henry Lee Professor of Economics Emeritus Hendrik Houthakker today (Sept. 25). A reception at Loeb House will follow the 2 p.m. service.
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Campus & Community
This month in Harvard history
September 1951 — Outside Memorial Hall on registration day, WHRB-Radio conducts a new programming feature: sidewalk interviews of freshmen, who explain why they have come to Harvard and what they think of it.
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Science & Tech
J. Richard Bond awarded Gruber Prize at CfA
Theoretical work on the evolution and structure of the universe landed Canadian cosmologist J. Richard Bond the 2008 Cosmology Prize of the Peter and Patricia Gruber Foundation, awarded Sept. 17 at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA).
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Campus & Community
CPL honors anti-hunger leader with Gleitsman Citizen Activist Award
The Center for Public Leadership (CPL) at the Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) has announced that the 2008 Gleitsman Citizen Activist Award will go to Billy Shore, co-founder of Share Our Strength. The award and the $100,000 prize that accompanies it will be presented to Shore on Nov. 19 at a reception in Cambridge, Mass.
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Health
Harvard Forest: 3,500 acres, global impact
Harvard may be rooted in Cambridge, but it has a lot more roots in the small north-central Massachusetts town of Petersham. That’s where you’ll find the woods, streams, and fields of the Harvard Forest, a 3,500-acre research and teaching facility that’s been part of the University for more than a century. Having been closely monitored…
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Nation & World
Electric cars, ‘cap and trade,’ and more
R. James Woolsey Jr., a former director of the Central Intelligence Agency, has a favorite personal strategy for ensuring U.S. domestic security: his Toyota Prius hybrid, upgraded with an A123 conversion kit that allows it to run largely on a battery rechargeable by house current.
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Campus & Community
Lewis Ranieri to deliver Dunlop Lecture on Oct. 1
Lewis Ranieri of Hyperion Private Equity Funds will deliver the ninth annual John T. Dunlop Lecture at the Harvard Graduate School of Design (HGSD) on Oct. 1. The title of Ranieri’s lecture is “Revolution in Mortgage Finance.”
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Health
Stem cell summit hails bench progress, looks to bedside future
New discoveries concerning cell reprogramming over the past year have boosted stem cell researchers in the lab and encouraged efforts to transfer test tube and lab animal advances to humans suffering degenerative diseases such as diabetes, Parkinson’s disease, and Lou Gehrig’s disease.
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Campus & Community
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.
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Nation & World
‘Likemindedness’ can be stultifying
Cass R. Sunstein, the Felix Frankfurter Professor at Harvard Law School and a former attorney-adviser in the Department of Justice’s Office of the Legal Counsel, spoke at the fourth annual Constitution Day lecture (Sept. 17) sponsored by the Office of the Provost.
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Campus & Community
Colloquium series launched by IIC, SEAS
The Initiative in Innovative Computing (IIC) and Harvard’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) recently announced the inauguration of a new joint colloquium series that will bring speakers at the frontiers of research in computing and science to the Harvard campus.
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Arts & Culture
Christo and Jeanne-Claude discuss art of the deal
The dynamic husband and wife artistic team of Christo and Jeanne-Claude are likely better negotiators than many foreign leaders. The pair is best known for their massive art installations, often using nylon or woven fabric to highlight buildings or works of nature. Their most recent project (2005), “The Gates,” consisted of 7,503 16-foot-tall steel gates…
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Campus & Community
CHGE releases new ‘Healthy Harvest’ guide
The Harvard Medical School’s Center for Health and the Global Environment (CHGE) recently published “Healthy Harvest: Regional Food Guides for New England and Mid-Atlantic States.” These comprehensive guides (available at http://www.healthyharvest.org) include detailed information about when produce is available regionally both fresh and from storage, as well as food-specific information on varieties, nutritional content, how…
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Campus & Community
CfA to host focus group on aesthetics and astronomy
The Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA) is sponsoring a focus group survey on Dec. 3 at Phillips Auditorium, 60 Garden St., to gather information on how NASA scientists create astronomical imagery. CfA experts will be on hand for the 3 p.m. talk and discussion. Astronomy enthusiasts are invited to register for the survey, which will…
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Arts & Culture
Radcliffe Fellow Markovits talks about ‘mad, bad, dangerous’ poet
George Gordon, Lord Byron died in 1824 at the age of 36 — a short life, but long enough for Byron to become a personage so vivid and controversial that he was arguably the modern era’s first celebrity.
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Campus & Community
HAA selects Aloian Memorial Scholars
This past May, the Harvard Alumni Association (HAA) selected two rising seniors to receive the David and Mimi Aloian Memorial Scholarships for their senior year (2008-09). The criteria for the awards reflect the traits valued and embodied by the late David and Mimi Aloian — thoughtful leadership that makes the College an exciting place in…
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Campus & Community
Ackerman awarded Golden Lion for contributions to architecture
The 2008 Venice Biennale award committee has conferred on James S. Ackerman, the Arthur Kingsley Professor of Fine Arts Emeritus at Harvard University, its prestigious Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement. The award citation praised Ackerman’s contributions to architecture, calling him “the doyen of the international community of historians of Renaissance architecture,” adding, “He is one…
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Campus & Community
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…
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Health
Important new step toward producing stem cells for human treatment
A team of Harvard Stem Cell Institute (HSCI) scientists has taken an important step toward producing induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells that are safe to transplant into patients to treat…
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Nation & World
Faculty experts to explore financial crisis in Webcast panel
Harvard President Drew Faust invites students, faculty, and staff to a special panel discussion Thursday, Sept. 25, on the current turmoil in the financial markets. “Understanding the Crisis in the Markets: A Panel of Harvard Experts” will begin at 4 p.m. in Sanders Theatre.
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Campus & Community
Harvard faculty members net MacArthur fellowships
Three biologists — one current and two future faculty members at Harvard — have won MacArthur Foundation “genius” grants, $500,000 no-strings-attached awards intended to encourage creativity, originality, and innovation in a broad array of fields.
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Health
Transfer of hospitalized patient from one resident to another can lead to harm
A significant percentage of resident physicians report that patient handoffs – transfer of responsibility for a hospitalized patient from one resident to another – contributed to incidents in which harm…
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Science & Tech
Three Harvard faculty members net MacArthur fellowships
Three biologists — one current and two future faculty members at Harvard — have won MacArthur Foundation “genius” grants, $500,000 no-strings-attached awards intended to encourage creativity, originality, and innovation in…