Campus & Community

Harvard’s financial aid program made the critical difference in leading many of the nation’s and the world’s best students to apply to Harvard College in these challenging economic times. A record 29,112 students applied for admission this year, compared to 27,462 last year. Enhanced a number of times recently, Harvard’s undergraduate financial aid program next year will be the most generous in its history, with $147 million in scholarships, an 8 percent increase from last year and a 167 percent increase over the past decade.

Matt Lauer, co-anchor of “Today” on NBC News, has been selected as the 2009 Senior Class Day speaker. He will address Harvard College graduates and their guests on June 3 at 2 p.m. in Tercentenary Theatre at Harvard Yard.

U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu, Nobel laureate in physics and a leader in the pursuit of alternative and renewable sources of energy, will be Harvard’s principal speaker at the Afternoon Exercises of Harvard’s 358th Commencement on June 4.

On Sunday (March 29), the Radcliffe lightweight crew opened things off right, taking home two first-place finishes at Holy Cross. The varsity eight finished with a time of 6:35 — four seconds ahead of the Holy Cross Crusaders and eight seconds ahead of the Smith Pioneers. The Black and White also captured the novice eight, finishing just a second ahead of Smith in the event. Radcliffe was the runner-up in the second varsity eight race with a time of 7:29.1.

Despite falling behind 0-2 at New York University (NYU) on Saturday (March 28) and 1-2 at Sacred Heart on Sunday (March 29), the Harvard men’s volleyball team still fought through, taking both matches in five games.

After their heartbreaking 8-9 loss at Georgetown last Wednesday (March 25), the No. 17 Harvard men’s lacrosse team rebounded with a dominating performance on Friday (March 27), devastating the Presbyterian Blue Hose by a score of 17-2.

The Phillips Brooks House Association (PBHA) will host its sixth annual auction for the Summer Urban Program at the Cambridge Queen’s Head Pub (45 Quincy Street) on April 28 from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. The event will support PBHA’s 12 summer camps, which serve more than 900 children and youth in Boston and Cambridge. The silent auction will be held from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. and will feature over 80 items, hors d’oeuvres, two complimentary drinks, and live jazz. The live auction of 10 items will begin at 7:30 p.m.

The Joint Center for Housing Studies (JCHS) is accepting applications for the Outstanding Student Research and Design Prize through May 1. The annual prize is offered for the best graduate-level research or design projects on housing that advance the field of housing studies as an academic endeavor. To be considered for either award the projects must be nominated by a faculty member familiar with the work.

Richard Losick, the Maria Moors Cabot Professor of Biology, was recently named one of seven Canada Gairdner International Award winners by the Gairdner Foundation, and will receive a CA$100,000 as one of the world’s leading medical research scientists. The Gairdner award is among the most prestigious awards in biomedical science.

Five Harvard faculty members were awarded honorary membership to the Royal Irish Academy on March 16. The honorary members include Harvard President Drew Faust, Lincoln Professor of History; Arthur Jaffe, Landon T. Clay Professor of Mathematics and Theoretical Science; Michael B. McElroy, Gilbert Butler Professor of Environmental Studies; Lisa Randall, professor of physics; and Amartya Sen, Thomas W. Lamont University Professor.

April 29, 1636 — John Harvard marries Ann Sadler (sister of John Sadler, future Master of Cambridge University’s Magdalene College). Just over a year later, they emigrate to New England.

Following are some of the incidents reported to the Harvard University Police Department (HUPD) for the week ending March 30. The official log is located at 1033 Massachusetts Ave., sixth floor, and is available online at http://www.hupd.harvard.edu/.

On Wednesday (April 1) Harvard College Dean Evelynn Hammonds announced the release of the “Report on Harvard House Renewal” in an e-mail to the Harvard residential community. The report is a synthesis of the findings of the House Program Planning Committee, a group charged by Faculty of Arts and Sciences Dean Michael D. Smith with envisioning the “ideal” undergraduate House.

Carroll Emory Wood Jr., a professor of biology and curator of the Arnold Arboretum, passed away at his South End (Boston) home on March 15 at the age of 88.

There’s something special about the Harvard men’s lacrosse team. The signs are everywhere. There’s the Crimson’s 9-6 upset at Duke — against the country’s No. 5 team, in the season opener — followed by a 12-4 pounding of Stony Brook the next weekend. Then there is the crucial play of freshman attackman Jeff Cohen, who leads the team in goals and points with nine and 14, respectively, and the stellar play of senior goalie Joe Pike, allowing just over five goals a game this season, which ranks him second in the Ivy League. Something special, indeed.

David R. Friedrich, the manager of the Student Organizations Center at Hilles (SOCH), has been appointed assistant dean of Harvard College and director of the Student Activities Office. He will be responsible for working with undergraduate students on developing and implementing extracurricular and social planning. His appointment is effective immediately.

The key to saving electricity is right at your feet — and there’s no need to reach for it. In February, University Information Systems (UIS) technicians installed Smart Strip Power Strips at about 700 workstations in Harvard’s Holyoke Center. When workers there turn off their computers at the end of the day, these floor-level devices shut off everything that is powered at a desk.

For an hour on the evening of March 28, Harvard will turn the lights off on some of its iconic architectural features — part of Earth Hour 2009, a global event promoting individual action to reduce climate change. From 8:30 to 9:30 p.m., the University will shut off non-essential lights atop Memorial Hall and on clock towers at two Harvard Houses, Dunster and Eliot.

Melani Bizarria cries when she talks about Harvard’s Bridge to Learning and Literacy Program. “I need to say thank you so much for the opportunity,” says Bizarria after a recent English class, her eyes welling up with tears. “I’m trying to do my best, but I don’t have words to explain my feelings. I am very happy now.”

The Harvard Foundation will present the 2009 Scientist of the Year Award to James J. McCarthy, Alexander Agassiz Professor of Biological Oceanography and master of Pforzheimer House, at this year’s Annual Albert Einstein Science Conference: “Advancing Minorities and Women in Science, Engineering, and Mathematics.” McCarthy will be honored for his outstanding work in climate science and marine biology, as well as his discovery of the disappearance of ice in a vast expanse of the polar Arctic.

For its coverage of health and safety violations in the poultry industry “The Cruelest Cuts,” the Charlotte Observer has won the 2008 Taylor Family Award for Fairness in Newspapers, and will be presented a $10,000 prize by the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard on April 16, 2009.

The winners of the Shorenstein Center’s annual Goldsmith Career Award for Excellence in Journalism are by definition accomplished. But in listing all the achievements of this year’s recipient, Gwen Ifill, Shorenstein Center director Alex Jones chose to focus on something that is unlikely to find its way onto her resumé.

The Harvard women’s tennis team pulled a pair of wins this past weekend, including a 4-3 upset over No. 68 Boston College on March 13, and then, bouncing back from a 1-6 loss to No. 52 Florida International (March 15), a 6-1 win over Florida Gulf Coast (March 16). The Crimson now stand at 4-6, and continue their road trip next week in California, where they will play against UC Santa Barbara (March 23), San Diego State (March 24), Santa Clara (March 27), and Cal State Northridge (March 28)

The Harvard men’s volleyball team are now winners of six out of their last eight, sweeping East Stroudsburg on March 14, 3-0, followed by a 3-0 sweep of MIT on March 17. The Crimson downed East Stroudsburg in straight sets (bouncing back from a loss at Princeton the night before) for their first road win in five tries.

An Ivy League title and automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament were just out of reach for the Crimson this season, but it’s not time for the Harvard women’s basketball team to hang up their jerseys just yet.

The Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America invites Harvard undergraduates to make use of the library’s collections with competitive awards of up to $2,500 for relevant research projects. Preference will be given to applicants pursuing research in the history of work and the family, community service and volunteerism, culinary arts, or women’s health. The research may be in connection with a project for academic credit, but is not required.

His Eminence Walter Cardinal Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity at the Vatican, will speak on March 25 at St. Paul Parish, home to the Harvard Catholic Chaplaincy.

The buildings of Harvard Medical School (HMS) at the Longwood campus are entirely smoke-free both inside and out, as of March 16. As part of HMS’s continued commitment to enhancing employees’ quality of life and the environment on campus, smoking is prohibited on all Harvard property in the Longwood Medical Area. This policy applies to all visitors on campus as well as employees, faculty, and students.

Samuel Kou, professor of statistics and director of graduate studies in the Department of Statistics at Harvard University, was selected as the inaugural recipient of the Raymond J. Carroll Young Investigator Award from Texas A&M University on March 14. Kou was presented with his award as part of “Statistical Methods for Complex Data,” a daylong conference sponsored by the Texas A&M Department of Statistics, the National Cancer Institute, the National Science Foundation, the National Institute of Statistical Science, and the Stata Corp. to celebrate the 60th birthday of Raymond J. Carroll, a distinguished professor of statistics, nutrition, and toxicology at Texas A&M and an international leader in many areas of statistical research and education.

Tarun Khanna, the Jorge Paulo Lemann Professor at Harvard Business School (HBS) and an expert on emerging economies, has been elected a fellow of the Academy of International Business (AIB).