Since its inception in 2003, the South Asia Initiative continues the long tradition of collaboration between Harvard and South Asia. Learning from South Asia and contributing to its development have become vital given the salience of the region in contemporary times.
Established in late 2006, the Harvard China Fund is Harvard’s “academic venture fund” for China. In service of the entire University, it supports teaching and research on China and promotes Harvard’s presence in China.
The Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies supports and promotes advanced research and training in all fields of Chinese studies. The center provides a variety of grants to enable graduate and undergraduate students to advance their Chinese language skills and conduct research focused on China-related topics.
At a Meeting of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences on May 1, 2012, the Minute honoring the life and service of the late Horace Gray Lunt II, Samuel Hazzard Cross Professor of Slavic Languages and Literatures, Emeritus, was placed upon the records. Professor Lunt spearheaded a golden age of Slavic studies.
This summer, the Asia Center will fund 75 students traveling to east, south, and southeast Asia to conduct research, participate in internships, and pursue intensive language study.
At a Meeting of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences on May 1, 2012, the Minute honoring the life and service of the late William von Eggers Doering, Mallinckrodt Professor of Chemistry, Emeritus, was placed upon the records. Time called Professor Doering’s synthesis of quinine “one of the greatest scientific achievements in a century.”
At a Meeting of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences on May 1, 2012, the Minute honoring the life and service of the late Oleg Grabar, Aga Khan Professor of Islamic Art, Emeritus, was placed upon the records. Professor Grabar was one of Islamic art and architecture’s most influential and insightful scholars.
Laura Ricci, who is receiving a master’s degree from the Graduate School of Education, has a long background as a professional therapeutic clown in a children’s hospital.
Seamus Heaney, winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature, returns to Harvard to read a poem at Morning Exercises. As Harvard celebrates its 375th anniversary, he will reprise his 1986 “Villanelle for an Anniversary,” composed for the University’s 350th.
Outgoing Harvard Alumni Association (HAA) President Ellen Gordon Reeves, A.B. ’83, Ed.M. ’86, will be leaving the HAA in good hands as she prepares to pass the baton to Carl Muller, A.B. ’73, J.D. ’76, M.B.A. ’76.
The Captain Jonathan Fay Prize is awarded annually to the graduating Harvard College senior who has produced the most imaginative work or original research in any field.
Physicist Jenny Hoffman and political theorist Eric Beerbohm have won the Roslyn Abramson Award, given annually to assistant or associate professors for excellence in undergraduate teaching.
For 20 years, Commencement Director Grace Scheibner has been responsible for the detailed planning and execution of the Harvard Commencement Morning Exercises.
Founded in 1973, the Edwin O. Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies promotes research on Japan and brings together Harvard faculty, students, leading scholars from other institutions, and visitors to create one of the world’s leading communities for the study of Japan.
The Korea Institute at Harvard University promotes the study of Korea and brings together faculty, students, scholars, and visitors to create a leading Korean studies community at Harvard.
The Harvard Alumni Association (HAA) has named Charles W. Collier, Ellen R. and Melvin J. Gordon, Harry L. Parker, and Susan S. Wallach the recipients of the 2012 Harvard Medal.
The Center for European Studies recently announced its 2011-12 student grant winners, continuing its long tradition of promoting and funding student research on political, historical, economic, social, cultural, and intellectual trends in modern or contemporary Europe.
The Centennial Medal is the highest honor awarded by the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, given annually during Commencement week to celebrate the achievements of a select group of Harvard University’s most accomplished alumni.
Journalist Fareed Zakari, who was chosen as the principal speaker at the Afternoon Exercises, is among those to be presented an honoroary degree at Harvard’s 361st Commencement.
A joyous peal of bells will ring throughout Cambridge today. In celebration of the city of Cambridge and of the country’s oldest university — and of our earlier history when bells of varying tones summoned us from sleep to prayer, work or study — this ancient yet new sound will fill Harvard Square and the surrounding area with music when a number of neighboring churches and institutions ring their bells at the conclusion of Harvard’s 361st Commencement Exercises, for the 24th consecutive year.
This year’s accomplished trio of Commencement orators draws inspiration from diverse sources, from the late Rev. Peter J. Gomes to Japanese haiku to the Latin inscription on Dexter Gate.
Students and faculty celebrated the inauguration of the Arthur P. Dempster Award. The award recognizes promising graduate students in the Statistics Department, especially those working in theoretical and foundational statistics.
Paul J. Finnegan, A.B. ’75, M.B.A. ’82, a widely admired member of the University’s Board of Overseers, past president of the Harvard Alumni Association, and co-CEO of a leading Chicago-based investment firm, has been elected to become the newest member of the Harvard Corporation, the University announced May 23.
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