Campus & Community

Harvard University today (July 8) released the report of its Greenhouse Gas Task Force. The task force, appointed by President Drew Faust in February, proposes elements of a framework for much-intensified efforts to reduce the University’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, as part of a broader effort to promote environmental sustainability.

Edward C. Forst, global head of the Investment Management Division for Goldman, Sachs & Co. and a member of the firm’s Management Committee, will become Harvard University’s first executive vice president, effective September 1, Harvard President Drew Faust announced today.

Judith D. Singer, the James Bryant Conant Professor of Education and former academic dean at the Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE), has been named senior vice provost for Faculty Development and Diversity at Harvard University, Provost Steven E. Hyman announced today.

Lori E. Gross, director of arts initiatives and adviser to the associate provost at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), has been named associate provost for arts and culture at Harvard University, Provost Steven E. Hyman announced today.

At a Meeting of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences on April 8, 2008, the Minute honoring the life and service of the late Richard Abel Musgrave, Harold Hitchings Burbank Professor of Political Economy, Emeritus, was placed upon the records. Musgrave was the leading public finance economist of his generation.

At a Meeting of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences on May 20, 2008, the Minute honoring the life and service of the late Ernst Mayr, Alexander Agassiz Professor of Zoology, Emeritus, was placed upon the records. Mayr helped lay the foundations of contemporary evolutionary biology.

At a Meeting of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences on May 6, 2008, the Minute honoring the life and service of the late Herbert Bloch, Pope Professor of the Latin Language and Literature, Emeritus, was place upon the records. Bloch did pioneering work on Greek and Roman historians.

The Ash Institute for Democratic Governance and Innovation at Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) recently announced the 15 finalists for the 2008 Innovations in American Government Awards competition. These programs are models of government excellence, representing innovative programming from the local, county, city, tribal, state, and federal levels. The finalists were selected from an initial pool of nearly 1,000 applicants. Winners of the 2008 Innovations Award will be announced in September with each of the six winners receiving $100,000 toward the replication and dissemination of its innovation.

The Ash Institute for Democratic Governance and Innovation at Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) recently announced its faculty and student summer grant recipients for the 2008 academic year. The institute will fund four summer 2008 independent student research grants, two student Ash Summer Fellowships in Innovation, and five faculty research grants. Such grants are part of the institute’s efforts to enhance its studies of democracy and innovation by harnessing the talent and experience of the HKS community.

At a Meeting of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences on May 20, 2008, the Minute honoring the life and service of the late David Roy Shackleton Bailey, Pope Professor of Latin Language and Literature, Emeritus, was placed upon the records. Shackleton Bailey was one of the greatest twentieth-century scholars of Latin textual criticism.

The Harvard Interfaculty Initiative in Health Policy recognized 39 seniors at its annual certificate ceremony during graduation week.

The Institute of Politics (IOP), located at Harvard Kennedy School, Monday (June 9) announced the selection of 42 undergraduate students, chosen from a pool of 275 candidates, for paid summer political internships.

The Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation recently awarded $150,000 prizes to Harvard doctoral students Maria Banda and Jonathan Beauchamp.

The Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business & Government (M-RCBG) at the Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) has named Michael Sperling ’08 the winner of the 2008 John T. Dunlop Prize in Business and Government.

A dozen talented graduate students from Boston University, Harvard, MIT, Northeastern, Suffolk, and Tufts have been awarded a prestigious fellowship that will allow them to spend the summer helping area public officials address a variety of key issues. The students, who were selected from nearly 100 applicants, will be working as Rappaport Public Policy Fellows in such venues as the office of Boston Mayor Thomas Menino, the Boston Redevelopment Authority, the state’s Department of Housing and Community Development, MassHousing, Somerville’s Office of Strategic Planning and Community Development, and the U.S. EPA’s Region I office in Boston.

Departments at Harvard Medical School (HMS) and the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) are changing their names to reflect the increasingly international aspect of public health in the 21st century.

Five exceptional advisers are the winners of this year’s John Marquand Award, which recognizes excellence and dedication in the mentoring and guidance of Harvard undergraduates.

Educational testing is a fundamental part of the educational system in the United States, but many argue that far too much emphasis is placed on it. One influential voice in the lively, often contentious, testing debate belongs to Daniel Koretz, professor of education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE), whose research focuses on educational assessment as it relates to educational policy, with an emphasis on the effects of high-stakes testing. His new book, titled “Measuring Up: What Educational Testing Really Tells Us” (Harvard University Press, 2008), is a detailed exploration of the pros and cons and complexities of testing.

The Crimson Summer Academy provides yearlong mentoring to economically disadvantaged high school students in Boston and Cambridge.

The Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE) presented five educators from the Boston and Cambridge public school systems with James Bryant Conant Fellowships on Monday (June 9). Each of the recipients will receive one year of study at the School.

The president of the Harvard Alumni Association (HAA) has announced the results of the annual election of new members of the Harvard Board of Overseers. The results were released at the annual meeting of the association following the University’s 357th Commencement.

From the beginning of Commencement Day, when graduates and their professors commenced sprouting out of the morning mist in full regalia, ’til the end of Afternoon Exercises, when all and sundry fell under the spell of J.K. Rowling’s verbal wizardry, four curious, stealthy, and alert writers from the Gazette prowled around the Yard and its environs, eyes and ears open for the most vivid, moving, and humorous moments of this most important of days.

President of the University of Miami, Donna E. Shalala, was at Harvard last week (June 6) to accept the Radcliffe Medal, a tradition that includes delivering the keynote address at a luncheon on Radcliffe Day.

June 1, 1774 — Several parliamentary punishments for the Boston Tea Party (December 1773) take effect, and British troops occupy Boston. “[C]onsidering the present dark aspect of our public Affairs,” the Harvard Corporation votes “that there be no public Commencement this Year.” Ceremonies do not resume until 1781.

Following are some of the incidents reported to the Harvard University Police Department (HUPD) for the week ending June 9. The official log is located at 1033 Massachusetts Ave., sixth floor, and is available online at http://www.hupd.harvard.edu/.

Harvard LGBT reunion set for September; Reischauer Institute seeks papers on Japan-related topics; HMNH publication captures prize

CLC honors Shinagel, Haynes; Dumbarton Oaks Library announces new director of studies; Department of Commerce honors Michael E. Porter; Sohigan, Yeghiayan attend Energy Globe Awards; Raiffa named recipient of Schelling Award; Woolhandler to present at council on Bioethics

Five graduating seniors and their families were all smiles despite the steady downpour drenching participants in this year’s commissioning ceremony for the Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC), held Wednesday (June 4). The morning began with an informal ceremony, during which the officer candidates took their oaths with family and friends before the statue of John Harvard, prior to their official swearing in at the Tercentenary Theatre.

President Drew Faust’s freshman year was one of fresh starts and real progress as she renewed Harvard’s leadership and helped make the University more affordable, more sustainable, and more welcoming to the arts, while maintaining the University’s voice in Washington and the world.

Six members of the Harvard Business School M.B.A. Class of 2008 have been named winners of the School’s prestigious Dean’s Award.