Campus & Community

Budding young scholars met with one of the University’s top scholars to learn about the finer points of academic research, the field of history, and what it’s like to be the president of Harvard.

Harvard Museum of Natural History (HMNH) will present “Looking Back, Looking Forward: A Conversation with James D. Watson and Edward O. Wilson” on Sept. 9. The event will be held at 5:30 p.m. in Sanders Theatre.

Nicolau Sevcenko, widely regarded as one of the world’s leading authorities on the cultural history of Brazil, was appointed professor of Romance languages and literatures in Harvard University’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) Jan. 1, 2009.

David Damrosch, a scholar of world literature, has been appointed professor of comparative literature in Harvard University’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS), effective July 1, 2009.

The Harvard Swim School, a program for all levels of swimming and diving ability, is taught by members of the Harvard men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams under the supervision of the varsity coaching staff.

Teresita Alvarez-Bjelland ’76, president of the Harvard Alumni Association (HAA), recently announced the results of the annual election of new members of the Harvard Alumni Association. The results were released at the annual meeting of the association following the University’s 358th Commencement on June 4.

Harvard College Dean Evelynn M. Hammonds announced July 9 the appointment of Associate Dean Suzy Nelson as dean of the newly established Office of Student Life (OSL), which will be created by the merger of the current Office of Residential Life (ORL) and Office of Student Life and Activities (OSLA). In her new role, Nelson will continue to work with House masters, co-masters, and resident deans, as well as the Freshman Dean’s Office.

In a single year, approximately 7,000 Harvard University students collectively performed more than 900,000 hours of community service work in and around metropolitan Boston, according to a new report released Thursday (July 23). This commitment by Harvard students in 2005-06 was the equivalent of having 450 people working full time, year-round, providing community services in local neighborhoods.

Faculty recognition, awards, fellowships, and research.

Gary King and Marc W. Kirschner have been named University Professors, Harvard’s highest professorial distinction.

Former Harvard Business School (HBS) Professor Jesse W. Markham, an economist whose work focused on price theory and industrial organization, died in his sleep on June 21 in Nashua, N.H., at an assisted-living home. He was 93.

Hanna Hastings, former House master and Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) administrator, died on June 15 at the age of 78. She suffered from an advanced stage of Parkinson’s disease.

Renowned scholars of American religious history R. Marie Griffith and Leigh Eric Schmidt have been appointed to the Harvard Divinity School (HDS) faculty, effective July 1. Griffith will be the John A. Bartlett Professor of New England Church History, and Schmidt will be the Charles Warren Professor of the History of Religion in America.

Last week (July 8), Harvard University planners presented preliminary designs to residents of Allston for the new 1.74-acre public park to be constructed behind the Honan-Allston Branch of the Boston Public Library on North Harvard Street.

The Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE) presented five educators from the Boston and Cambridge public school systems with James Bryant Conant Fellowships in June. Each of the recipients will receive one year of study at HGSE.

Welcome solar rays scrubbed clouds out of the sky and shone down on the Harvard Allston Farmers’ Market. Now in its second year, the market is open every Friday from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m., through October. Bring big bags, and your appetite.

Over the next five years, Harvard will award grants to nonprofit groups serving North Allston/North Brighton.

Harvard Medical School (HMS) will endow a new chair named for child psychiatrist Leon Eisenberg, the School’s longtime Maude and Lillian Presley Professor of Social Medicine, starting July 1.

President Drew Faust announced today (June 11) that Thomas E. Vautin will be Harvard’s acting vice president for administration (VPA), effective July 1. Sally H. Zeckhauser, currently the vice president for administration, is retiring at the end of June.

June 21, 1776 — The College reassembles in Cambridge after its eight-month stay in Concord.

Following are some of the incidents reported to the Harvard University Police Department (HUPD) for the week ending June 8. The official log is located at 1033 Massachusetts Ave., sixth floor, and is available online at http://www.hupd.harvard.edu/.

Passersby will soon be able to access current cultural events at Harvard through the Mobile Information Unit, an innovative, cross-disciplinary research project designed and fabricated by Harvard Graduate School of Design (GSD) students.

FAS CONFERS 17 MIND, BRAIN, AND BEHAVIOR CERTIFICATES; ‘REMEMBERING AWATOVI’ WINS INDEPENDENT PUBLISHER AWARD

(Israel) David Todres, Professor of Paediatrics (Anaesthesia) at Harvard Medical School, died at his home of lymphoma on Sept. 26, 2008. He was 73.

Jack H. Mendelson, M.D., Professor of Psychiatry (Neuroscience) at Harvard Medical School and Co-Director of the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Research Center at McLean Hospital died on August 15, 2007, after a brief illness; he was 77 years old. Jack devoted his research career to clinical, behavioral, and biological studies of alcoholism and drug abuse.

At a Meeting of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences on October 21, 2008, the Minute honoring the life and service of the late Donald James Martino, Walter Bigelow Rosen Professor of Music, Emeritus, was placed upon the records. Martino was one of the leading American composers of the twentieth century.

Dr. Shukri F. Khuri passed away peacefully at the age of 65, surrounded by family and friends, on September 26, 2008, at his Westwood home, after courageously battling brain cancer for more than eighteen months. A gifted and spirited surgeon and researcher, his absolute love for life enabled him to achieve remarkable professional success and effectively pursue his passions for family, friends and various interests.

At a Meeting of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences on February 10, 2009, the Minute honoring the life and service of the late Dimitri Hadzi, Professor of Visual and Environmental Studies, Emeritus, was placed upon the records. Hadzi was an artist of enormous ambition and achievement.

The Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government (M-RCBG) at the Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) has announced that Vivek Viswanathan and Anna Katherine Barnett-Hart are the 2009 recipients of The John T. Dunlop Thesis Prize in Business and Government, awarded to the graduating senior who writes the best thesis on a challenging public policy issue at the interface of business and government.

The Harvard-Yenching Institute has selected 22 visiting scholars and fellows from major universities in Asia. Established in 1928, the Harvard-Yenching Institute is an independent foundation dedicated to advancing higher education in Asia, with special attention to the study of Asian culture. The group of visiting scholars and fellows includes faculty members and advanced graduate students in the humanities and social sciences.