Paula J. Caplan, lecturer on studies of women, gender, and sexuality at Harvard, has received a distinguished career award from the Association for Women in Psychology at its annual conference in San Diego last month. At the conference, Caplan delivered a lecture titled “Defying Authority: The Liberation and Poignancy of Challenging the Status Quo.”
James McCarthy, the Alexander Agassiz Professor of Biological Oceanography in the Museum of Comparative Zoology, will accept the 2008 Walker Prize from the Boston Museum of Science on April 7. The prize recognizes “meritorious published scientific investigation and discovery” in any scientific field.
George Vasmer Leverett Professor of Physics Gerald Gabrielse has been named the winner of the 2008 Premio Caterina Tommassoni and Felice Pietro Chisesi Prize. The prize, which includes 13,000 euros, will be officially presented April 7 at the University of Rome.
“The Cigarette Century: The Rise, Fall, and Deadly Persistence of the Product That Defined America,” by Amalie Moses Kass Professor of the History of Medicine Allan M. Brandt, has been selected to receive a Bancroft Prize from Columbia University.
At its 10th meeting of the year on April 2, the Faculty Council considered a proposal to rename the Department of English and American Literature and Language and discussed several items on the dean of the Faculty’s agenda. The council next meets on April 23. The preliminary deadline for the May 6 Faculty meeting is April 21 at 9:30 a.m.
A memorial service for Byrne Professor of Administrative Law Emeritus Clark Byse will be held April 4 at 11 a.m. in the Memorial Church. A reception will follow at Loeb House, 17 Quincy St.
The Weatherhead Center for International Affairs has established a new Program on Transatlantic Relations, thanks to a donation by Pierre Keller of Geneva. Keller was a fellow in 1979–80 at the then–Center for International Affairs, as part of a program that welcomes senior-level diplomats, politicians, military officers, and private-sector professionals to the University for a year of scholarly activity and reflection.
CRIMSON SWIMMERS COMPETE AT NATIONALS IN WASHINGTON, TIGERS TRIP UP POSTSEASON RUN FOR MEN’S HOCKEY, FRESHMAN SAILORS PACE CRIMSON AT CENTRAL SERIES TWO, CWPA SELECTS 12 HARVARDIANS TO ALL-ACADEMIC TEAM
Just one day after dropping a 4-1 heartbreaker to the University of Wisconsin in NCAA semifinal action (March 20), the Harvard women’s hockey team, still reeling from their fifth defeat in as many Frozen Four appearances, was thrust into a festive mood. And though the source of that joy — junior Sarah Vaillancourt’s selection as the 2008 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award winner — didn’t fully soothe the sting of the colossal loss, the recognition was a welcome endnote. And, it turns out, a familiar thrill for the Harvard hockey program as well.
Following a comprehensive assessment, the Faculty of Arts and Sciences will begin planning a major renovation of Harvard University’s undergraduate residential Houses. The renovations, a significant, long-term project that is anticipated to involve all 12 Houses, will unfold over 15 years.
Harvard Medical School (HMS) Dean Jeffrey Flier announced March 21 that the School is taking steps to reduce the cost of a four-year medical education by up to $50,000 for families with incomes of $120,000 or less.
The World Economic Forum has selected Daniel L. Shapiro as a 2008 Young Global Leader. The founder and director of the Harvard International Negotiation Initiative and associate director of the Harvard Negotiation Project, Shapiro is on the faculty at Harvard Law School and Harvard Medical School/McLean Hospital.
The $25,000 Goldsmith Prize for Investigative Reporting has been awarded to Barton Gellman and Jo Becker of The Washington Post for their investigative report “Angler: The Cheney Vice Presidency.” The Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy administers the award.
A record applicant pool of 27,462 has led to an admission rate of 7.1 percent, the lowest in the history of Harvard College. Traditional admission letters (and e-mails) were sent on March 31 to 1,948 students. Last year 2,058 applicants were admitted from a pool of 22,955.
Jane Mendillo will become the new president and chief executive officer of Harvard Management Company (HMC), effective July 1, 2008, the HMC board of directors announced today.
Despite the current building boom, many recent graduates from architecture and engineering schools are choosing to pursue more lucrative careers in high-tech and management consulting, rather than building and design. This trend, according to design professionals, could have major consequences for the construction industry. As part of an effort to address it, a recent $1.5 million gift to Harvard’s Graduate School of Design will support The RMJM Program for Research and Education in Integrated Design Practice.
March 13, 1944 — Between matinees at Boston’s RKO Theatre, composer-pianist Duke Ellington visits Paine Hall to give a 20-minute lecture on the blues (“Negro Music in America”). At the keyboard, Ellington illustrates his talk with “Sophisticated Lady,” “Subtle Slough,” “Dancers in Love,” “Don’t Get Around Much Anymore,” and “Mood Indigo.”
Following are some of the incidents reported to the Harvard University Police Department (HUPD) for the week ending March 3. The official log is located at 1033 Massachusetts Ave., sixth floor, and is available online at http://www.hupd.harvard.edu/.
Ankush Sharma, a graduate student in the Health Careers Program at Harvard University, attended the inaugural Clinton Global Initiative University (CGI U) conference at Tulane University March 14-16.
The World Economic Forum recently named Daniel L. Shapiro a 2008 Young Global Leader. The director of the Harvard International Negotiation Initiative and a lecturer on law, Shapiro joins leaders across a wide range of fields who are under 40 years of age to be chosen to pursue solutions to global-scale issues including education, government, poverty, and the environment.
Craigen Weston Bowen, deputy director of the Straus Center for Conservation at Harvard University’s Fogg Art Museum and an accomplished rock climber and gardener, died at her home in Lexington, Mass., on March 1, 16 months after being diagnosed with cancer. She was 54.
With the Harvard women’s hockey team protecting a 5-1 advantage in the closing minutes of its NCAA regional showdown versus Dartmouth on Saturday afternoon (March 15), a small contingent of Crimson fans suddenly filled Bright Hockey Center with a battle cry. “Min-ah-so-ta” they sang, followed by a rhythmic succession of hand claps (two slow, three fast). Ever the educated sports fans, those Harvard hockey nuts – making up a good majority of the 1,497 on hand – weren’t just whistling Dixie.
What’s a 15-year-old boy, confined to a wheelchair with a fatal form of muscular dystrophy, to do on his summer vacation? Take a 7,000-mile road trip across the country with 11 friends. So thought Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE) student Logan Smalley Ed.M. ’08, who organized the trek and then captured it in his 2007 documentary “Darius Goes West: The Roll of His Life.”
In October 2007, a group of Harvard College students proposed a novel way to commemorate the 400th anniversary of John Harvard’s birth — donate books. Their initial idea developed into the John Harvard Book Project, which ran from November through February and raised funds from students, faculty, and staff with the goal of purchasing books for local schools.
For the upcoming year, the estimated average total aid package of close to $40,000 will reduce the average cost (including nonbilled personal expenses of approximately $3,000) to an estimated $10,500 for those families receiving financial aid. Need-based scholarship aid for undergraduates at Harvard has increased by 143 percent over the past decade, while the total package has risen by roughly 50 percent, reinforcing Harvard’s commitment to affordable education.
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