Campus & Community

A thousand or so visitors wandered the colorful collections of Harvard’s Arnold Arboretum on Lilac Sunday.

Senior Matt Aucoin immersed himself in Harvard’s rich worlds of poetry and music, with a degree in English, a passion for writing and composing, and a future destined for The New Yorker, or the conductor’s chair, or both.

Keith Wright calls his decision to come to Harvard “the best in my life.” Crimson basketball fans would agree. The forward and his teammates have made history since he arrived in 2008, transforming a losing program into one of the Ivy League’s most successful.

Calling the Kennedy School “the voice of public service at Harvard,” University President Drew Faust welcomed alumni from across seven decades Friday to a special 75th anniversary conference.

As part of the John Harvard Book Celebration, Harvard Graduate School of Education Dean Kathleen McCartney spoke about the most effective ways to close the achievement gap between low-income students and their middle and higher-income peers.

The Phi Beta Kappa Alpha Iota Chapter of Massachusetts announced three recipients of the Phi Beta Kappa Prize in Excellence in Teaching for this academic year.

Steven Hoffman, a doctoral candidate in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences’ Health Policy program, has been awarded the prestigious 2012 Trudeau Scholarship.

Harvard’s Department of Biostatistics announced that Melissa D. Begg will be the first recipient of the newly established Lagakos Distinguished Alumni Award.

Jamie Oliver, the internationally acclaimed chef of “Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution,” will be honored by the Harvard School of Public Health for his substantial achievements in working to end the childhood obesity epidemic.

Noted neuroscience professor S. Allen Counter was appointed Knight of the Order of the Polar Star First Class by Carl XVI Gustaf, king of Sweden.

“Ruin Nation: Destruction and the American Civil War,” a book by Megan Kate Nelson, has recently been published by the University of Georgia Press.

The Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation at the Harvard Kennedy School announced it will fund 23 students through experimental learning projects this summer.

The Center for Jewish Studies at Harvard announced the recipients of the 2012 Norman Podhoretz Prize in Jewish Studies and the 2012 Selma and Lewis Weinstein Prize in Jewish Studies.

The Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation at Harvard Kennedy School announced the recipients of its annual Challenges to Democracy Grant program.

The National Academy of Sciences elected additional members at its annual meeting on April 30, including Harvard professors Susan Athey and Xiaowei Zhuang.

Diane Paulus explained her approach to theater, one that involves the active engagement of the audience.

This year, Harvard is celebrating the 375th anniversary of the founding of Harvard College in 1636. Visit the official 375th website for more information about the University-wide celebration.

Nearly 81 percent of students admitted to Harvard’s Class of 2016 have chosen to matriculate at the College. The last time the yield on admitted students reached 80 percent was 41 years ago.

Harvard President Drew Faust met with a new crop of Presidential Public Service Fellows for a candid discussion of what the University can do to promote public service as a career and a calling.

The American Philosophical Society awarded the Jacques Barzun Prize for the best book in cultural history published in 2010 to Amabel B. James Professor of History Peter E. Gordon.

The Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures recently awarded two V.M. Setchkarev Memorial Prizes of $500 each at its spring reception this May.

Miranda Morrison ’14 and Patrick Rooney ’14 were presented with the Joseph L. Barrett Award at a special ceremony on May 2.

The Delta Kappa Gamma Society International has selected Donna Hicks’ “Dignity: The Essential Role It Plays in Resolving Conflict” as the recipient of its 2012 Educators Award.

The Harvard Allston Education Portal “Showcase” drew nearly 100 people, including Ed Portal mentors, the Allston youngsters they’ve worked with, family members, and Harvard faculty and staff, to celebrate the conclusion of yet another semester of learning. Both mentees and mentors demonstrated the special connections that form at the Ed Portal and how contagious the excitement of learning can be.

Harvard Graduate School of Education student Rebecca Givens Rolland has won two recent literary prize for her prose and poetry.

Since 2008, the Harvard Allston Education Portal has fostered learning, exploration, and connections between Harvard and the Allston-Brighton community. The new Ed Portal Annex will triple the size of the Harvard Allston Education Portal.

In its 10th year, Boston Shines, the citywide cleanup event, brought together staff from across the University, all of whom rolled up their sleeves to contribute to the cause.

David A. Evans, the Abbott and James Lawrence Professor of Chemistry Emeritus, was awarded the 2012 Welch Award in Chemistry in recognition of his pioneering research.

Alumni, students, and leaders of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences donned hard hats and plunged shovels into the earth to mark the launch of the Old Quincy Test Project.

The Class of 2012 will hear from one of popular culture’s rising stars and get a window into the way Washington works when “Saturday Night Live” (SNL) cast member Andy Samberg and Massachusetts Congressman Barney Frank speak on Senior Class Day, May 23, in Tercentenary Theatre.