Campus & Community

Maya Jasanoff and her faculty colleagues gathered at the Tsai Auditorium on Feb. 16 and March 7 to consider how the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) may look in a generation. The discussions were part of the Conversations @ FAS series, which this year asks some of Harvard’s leading scholars to imagine the faculty at 400.

In lecture halls, laboratories, and spaces across Harvard, dedicated teachers including Kevin Kit Parker, Gordon McKay Professor of Bioengineering and Applied Physics in the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, are creating fertile environments for innovation, championing bold ideas and encouraging students to think in new ways.

In a powerful new approach to scholarship, researchers at Harvard are creating a digital “fossil record” of human culture by tracking the frequency with which words appear in digitized books. Culturomics, a…

On Thursday, the National Book Critics Circle recognized Harvard Professor Maya Jasanoff with its award for general nonfiction for “Liberty’s Exiles: American Loyalists in the Revolutionary War” (Knopf).

What if you could enter a decorated tomb chapel in a Giza pyramid, descend down an ancient burial shaft, or see 5,000-year-old inscriptions come to life—without ever having to travel?

Bringing electricity to remote areas in developing countries is a challenge Harvard graduates Jessica Matthews AB ’10 and Julia Silverman AB ’10 are tackling head on.

Working at the intersection of art and science, Harvard conservators are giving new life to the rare texts, photographs, and materials in the special collections at the Harvard Library

Under the leadership of Artistic Director Diane Paulus, the American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) is seeking new ways to redefine and reimagine theater for the Harvard community and beyond.

Daniel G. Nocera, a chemist whose work is focused on developing inexpensive new energy sources, has been appointed the Patterson Rockwood Professor of Energy in Harvard’s Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Michael D. Smith, dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, announced March 8.

Freshmen, who spend their first year on campus in dormitories in Harvard Yard, were each sorted into one of Harvard’s 12 upperclass Houses today.

Harvard engineer Robert J. Wood has been named one of two recipients of the Alan T. Waterman Award from the National Science Foundation (NSF).

Ed Lloyd inherited a famous gallery designed by the architect Le Corbusier. As the Carpenter Center’s exhibitions manager, he regularly transforms that space to bring current works of art to life.

Theodore Betley, Thomas D. Cabot Associate Professor of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, and Victoria D’Souza, associate professor of molecular and cellular biology, were recently named as the recipients of the 2011 George W. Merck Fellowship.

Lizabeth Cohen, an eminent scholar of 20th-century American social and political history and interim dean of the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study since last July, has been named dean, Harvard President Drew Faust announced March 8.

Extending what’s become a banner year for Harvard’s athletics, the men’s and women’s track and field teams have been breaking University records left and right.

The Lowell House Speeches, initiated last year by resident tutor Sandy Alexander, are an opportunity for students to practice public discourse, while at the same time giving housemates a more personal glimpse into the lives of people they may recognize only in passing.

At a Meeting of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences on December 6, 2011, the Minute honoring the life and service of the late Ronold W. P. King, Gordon McKay Professor of Applied Physics, Emeritus, was placed upon the records. Professor King, a dedicated teacher and scholar, was an expert on linear antennas.

At a Meeting of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences on December 6, 2011, the Minute honoring the life and service of the late Allan R. Robinson, Gordon McKay Professor of Geophysical Fluid Dynamics, Emeritus, was placed upon the records. Professor Robinson’s insights into the Gulf Stream, the evolution of ocean eddies, and the dynamics of circulation in the Mediterranean Sea earned him renown in the world of oceanography.

A second-year Harvard Medical School student, Eva Mihalis ’09, recounts how having a caring mentor to help her navigate personal problems taught her how to help nurture others.

An informational note regarding Harvard’s 361st Commencement, to be held May 24, 2012.

At a Meeting of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences on December 6, 2011, the Minute honoring the life and service of the late Michael Tinkham, Rumford Professor of Physics and Gordon McKay Professor of Applied Physics in the Physics Department and the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Emeritus, was placed upon the records. Professor Tinkham was internationally known for his contributions to condensed matter physics, in particular superconductivity.

The Colonies’ first printing press, in operation by 1638, was the instrument behind New England’s first literary flowering.

Henry A. Kissinger, who served as National Security adviser and secretary of state during the Nixon and Ford administrations after 15 years as a member of the Harvard faculty, will be the featured speaker on a panel discussion in Sanders Theatre on April 11.

The Harvard men’s basketball team won the Ivy League championship outright this year — the first time in program history — and secured the Crimson’s first trip to the NCAA Men’s Division 1 Basketball Championship since 1946.

College officials are analyzing students’ Wintersession 2012 evaluations and say that the response to January’s programming was strongly positive. They credit the success of the optional period of student- and faculty-led activities to a focus on real-world knowledge and a greatly expanded schedule of offerings.

Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino and Harvard Drew President Faust celebrate the fourth round of Harvard Allston Partnership Fund grants that have infused $400,000 into 19 nonprofits.

Faculty of Arts and Sciences Dean Michael D. Smith honored the 44 recipients of the third annual Dean’s Distinction awards in a ceremony and reception March 1 in the Faculty Room of University Hall.

Two Harvard Ph.D. candidates, Itay Budin and Nicolas Chevrier, were among 13 students awarded the 2012 Harold M. Weintraub Graduate Student Award.

Gov. Deval Patrick announced the appointments of Harvard professors David J. Barron and Fernando M. Reimers to the Massachusetts Board of Higher Education.

The Harvard Medical School (HMS) Center for Primary Care announced the formation of an Academic Innovations Collaborative that will provide more than $10 million in resources over two years to nine HMS-affiliated hospital-based primary care teaching practices and eight affiliated community health practice partners.