Campus & Community

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.

At Class Day, U.S. Rep. Barney Frank ’61, J.D. ’77, and comedian Andy Samberg offered words of wisdom and wit to Harvard’s graduating Class of 2012.

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.

A day before graduating, four Harvard seniors receive their military commissions.

In her Baccalaureate Address, President Drew Faust urged graduates of the Class of 2012 to be mindful of their good fortune — and to embrace the responsibilities a privileged education bestows on them.

Poet Kay Ryan and former Harvard President Derek Bok blended wit and wisdom in addressing top-ranked seniors at the 222nd Phi Beta Kappa Literary Exercises on May 22.

In its earliest years, the struggling College was chronically short of money and sometimes even graduates.

The American Council of Learned Societies awarded fellowships and grants to faculty, fellows, and students at Harvard.

Four members of the Harvard Business School M.B.A. Class of 2012 have been named winners of the School’s prestigious Dean’s Award.

The Harvard Gazette sat down with Jane Mendillo, the president and CEO of the Harvard Management Company (HMC), to discuss the opportunities in today’s global markets.

When Lilia Aguilar earns her Kennedy School degree, she’ll return to her homeland to ramp up her campaign for a seat in congress.

Marjorie Garber and Atul Gawande have been elected members of the American Philosophical Society.

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.