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/.
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.
More than 80 Harvard College seniors have been named Thomas T. Hoopes Prize winners for outstanding scholarly work or research. The prize is funded by the estate of Thomas T. Hoopes ’19. The recipients, including their research and advisers, are as follows:
The Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study has named Harvard senior and sociology and economics joint-concentrator Eric Kouskalis winner of its 2008 Captain Jonathan Fay Prize. Kouskalis was chosen for the quality and impact of his senior thesis, which featured a compelling argument against the current methods for introducing and deploying computers into South African and Namibian school systems.
The Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study has announced that Donna E. Shalala, president of the University of Miami and former U.S. secretary of Health and Human Services, will be awarded the 2008 Radcliffe Institute Medal at the annual Radcliffe Day luncheon on Friday (June 6) at 12:45 p.m. Barbara J. Grosz, dean of the Radcliffe Institute, will make opening remarks and present the medal. Shalala will deliver the keynote address.
Late this morning (June 3), Adam Goldenberg ’08 — in a fashionable bow tie and flowing academic robes — joined a long line of gowned seniors in the shade of trees outside Harvard Hall. A few months before, the Vancouver, B.C., social studies concentrator had dressed a little differently (in pink tights and a yellow Bo Peep dress) to entertain Hasty Pudding’s Man of the Year Christopher Walken.
The Harvard Alumni Association (HAA) has announced the recipients of the 2008 Harvard Medal: Susan L. Graham A.B. ’64, Richard M. Hunt Ph.D. ’60, and Stephen B. Kay A.B. ’56, M.B.A. ’58.
Harvard University today (June 5) conferred honorary doctoral degrees on 10 individuals in recognition of their outstanding achievements in a broad range of fields. The degrees were awarded at this morning’s 357th Commencement Exercises. In addition, the University announced its intention to confer an honorary degree on Sen. Edward M. Kennedy on an appropriate future occasion. Kennedy had planned to attend today’s Commencement ceremony but is now recovering from surgery earlier this week.
In September 1958, Harvard College senior Alfred Hurd moved to 3 Sacramento St., an old Victorian mansion the University had bought less than a year before. The rambling three-story house — with its interior of arched doorways, stained-glass windows, and tiled fireplaces — was the locus of an experiment: Harvard’s first cooperative housing dormitory.
In the future, Harvard will go beyond traditional ivy and red brick to create campuses with more energy-efficient buildings that minimize water usage and produce low air emissions.
June 1766 — Designed by colonial governor Sir Francis Bernard, the new Harvard Hall (still standing, with several later modifications) opens to replace its predecessor, destroyed by fire in 1764.
Following are some of the incidents reported to the Harvard University Police Department (HUPD) for the week ending June 2. The official log is located at 1033 Massachusetts Ave., sixth floor, and is available online at http://www.hupd.harvard.edu/.
Jesús Terrones exudes a calm that commands attention. His voice has a quiet resonance. His eyes are a brown that border on black, at once intense and kind.
Call it magic, but the rain held off while Harry Potter creator J.K. Rowling delivered the keynote address this afternoon (June 5) at Harvard University’s annual meeting of the Harvard Alumni Association.
Holdren honored as guest professor of Tsinghua University; Locke given innovation award; HBS’s Thomas McCraw receives Hagley book prize; Zhang awarded prestigious Merck Award
As vice chairs of the Harvard College Fund’s Recent Graduates Committee, Eryn Ament Bingle ’95 and Thomas M. Reardon Jr. ’96, M.B.A. ’05 couldn’t help focusing on a nagging fundraising statistic: 60 to 70 percent of Harvard seniors give to a Senior Gift fund before graduation, but fewer than 20 percent of those same students make any gift to their college one year later.
The notion of “the right attitude” is so played out in the world of sports — in pep talks and SportCenter sound bites, for instance — that one might question whether it carries any weight. In the case of Harvard swimmer Elizabeth Kolbe ’08, who is one of America’s premier Paralympic athletes, the answer is a resounding yes.
Why do people suffer from the sins of others? Elizabeth J.A. Siwo-Okundi has long pondered this question as she has studied some of the most ambiguous and troubling passages in the Bible. A master’s of theology student at Harvard Divinity School, Siwo-Okundi has never shied away from difficult issues. Even while studying Old Testament stories of rape, human sacrifice, and war, Siwo-Okundi has found inspiration and even comfort; she has turned her discoveries into eloquent sermons that have won her national attention.
Today the University awarded a total of 6,966 degrees and 104 certificates. A breakdown of the degrees by schools and programs follows. Harvard College granted a total of 1,564 degrees.
Featured series 
Video
Gallery
