Campus & Community

Over a thousand people crowded into the Memorial Church Sunday (Nov. 11) for a special birthday. Seventy-five years earlier, almost to the minute, the Colonial-style structure was dedicated on Armistice Day 1932.

Three astronomers at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA) were recently recognized for their innovative work by three leading national magazines. The trio was selected from hundreds of scientists across the country for their leadership and achievements in their respective research fields.

Mary Beth Pearlberg has been named senior associate dean for external affairs at the Kennedy School of Government (KSG). She will lead the School’s development initiatives, oversee its alumni programs, and serve on the dean’s leadership team.

The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) has awarded the distinction of fellow to 15 Harvard faculty members. In all, 471 new members were named for their efforts toward advancing science applications that are deemed scientifically or socially distinguished.

Harvard University and the Arab Republic of Egypt announced today the creation of a new fellowship program to provide financial support to students from Egypt accepted to the Harvard Graduate School of Education, Harvard School of Public Health, or Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. This program has been established by an endowment of $10 million from the Arab Republic of Egypt to finance prestigious “Egypt Fellowships” designed to enable highly qualified members of the Egyptian public sector to study at Harvard.

Barry R. Bloom, dean of the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) and Joan L. and Julius H. Jacobson Professor of Public Health, announced today that he will step down from his position as the School’s leader at the end of the current academic year.

Senior safety Doug Hewlett recorded a game-high seven tackles against the host Columbia Lions on Nov. 3 to pace a defensive effort that gave up just 68 yards in the second half. The clampdown helped set up a pair of touchdowns for Harvard to expand its 13-6 advantage at the break to a 27-12 final score.

Women tennis players from across the country descended upon the Murr Center courts this past weekend for the Harvard Invitational (Nov. 2-4). The final fall meet-up paired athletes from North Carolina State, Texas A&M, the University of Illinois — and, of course, Harvard — in head-to-head doubles and singles matches. Because team scores weren’t tallied, the invite gave players a chance to take on top-ranked talent outside their usual field of competition.

The Harvard men’s water polo team topped Iona College, 7-5, on Sunday (Nov. 4) to finish 2-1 this past weekend at the Northern Division Championships at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The physical win over the Gaels (the game was marked by a handful of ejections) assured the Crimson the No. 6 seed in the upcoming Eastern Division Championships Nov. 15-17 at Blodgett Pool.

Harvard University Health Services (HUHS) is offering free flu shots to members of the Harvard community.

This is the first in a series of Gazette articles highlighting some of the many initiatives and charities that Harvard affiliates can support through this month’s Community Gifts Through Harvard campaign. The Community Gifts campaign allows you to donate to a charity of your choice through cash, a check, or a payroll deduction. For more information or to pledge online, visit http://www.community.harvard.edu/communitygifts.

Harvard Medical School Dean Jeffrey Flier said Friday (Nov. 2) that new approaches are needed to advance the fight against disease and embraced cross-institutional collaborations at Harvard as a way to bring new thinking to old problems.

Acclaimed author and religious historian Karen Armstrong will present “The Case for God” during the three-day William Belden Noble Lectures at the Memorial Church Nov. 13-15 at 8 p.m. Armstrong, the author of some 20 books, including the best-selling “A History of God” and “The Battle for God,” is renowned for her ideas about the similarities between Islam, Judaism, and Christianity, and what unites the three monotheist faiths.

Nov. 23, 1876 — Princeton convenes a meeting in Springfield, Mass., that results in the formation of the Intercollegiate Football Association (Princeton, Harvard, and Columbia). Yale decides not to join but does contribute to the development of the IFA’s modified rugby rules.

Following are some of the incidents reported to the Harvard University Police Department (HUPD) for the week ending Nov. 5. The official log is located at 1033 Massachusetts Ave., sixth floor, and is available online at http://www.hupd.harvard.edu/.

At its fourth meeting of the year on Nov. 7, the Faculty Council received an update on General Education, considered the role of the Faculty Council as raised by a Nov. 3 Boston Globe article concerning the Harvard University Art Museums, and was joined by Professor J. Lorand Matory for a discussion of the concerns raised in his Sept. 14 opinion piece in the Harvard Crimson.

President Bush has appointed Harvard Law School (HLS) Professor Mary Ann Glendon as the new U.S. ambassador to the Holy See. The president announced his intention to nominate Glendon on Nov. 5.

At a Meeting of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences October 16, 2007, the following Minute was placed upon the records.

The Science Center will screen a 30-minute preview of “The Naturalist,” a film biography of Pellegrino University Professor Emeritus E.O. Wilson, on Dec. 10 at 7:30 p.m. Harvard employees who work at the Holyoke Center are invited to participate in the eighth annual group art exhibit, to be displayed Dec. 7, 2007, through Jan. 2, 2008, in the Holyoke Arcade’s exhibition space. Byllye Avery, founder of the Black Women’s Health Imperative, and Judy Norsigian, executive director of Our Bodies Ourselves (and co-author of all editions of “Our Bodies, Ourselves”), will take part in a Nov. 15 discussion about women’s health and women’s health care reform.

Swanee Hunt, founding director of the Women and Public Policy Program at the Kennedy School of Government (KSG), accepted the Leadership in Advocacy Award from the Asian Task Force Against Domestic Violence (ATASK) at the group’s 14th annual Silk Road Gala Nov. 3 at the Boston Marriott Copley Plaza Hotel. “The Conquest of Nature” by Coolidge Professor of History David Blackbourn has received the George L. Mosse Prize from the American Historical Association (AHA). The prize is awarded annually for an outstanding book of “extraordinary scholarly distinction, creativity, and originality in the intellectual and cultural history of Europe since the Renaissance.”

A memorial service for Elizabeth Dexter Hay, embryologist and educator at Harvard Medical School (HMS), will be held Nov. 18 at 2 p.m. in the rotunda of HMS’s New Research Building at 77 Ave. Louis Pasteur.

Elizabeth Brainerd Lindemann, a staff member of the Wellesley Human Relations Service, a field station of the Harvard Medical School (HMS) Department of Psychiatry at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), from 1948 until 1965, died July 20 at Kendall at Hanover, a Quaker-sponsored continuing care community in New Hampshire. She was 94 years old.

The Korea Institute at Harvard has recently announced its 2007-08 Postdoctoral Fellows in Korean Studies. This year, the institute will welcome Elise Prebin and Isabelle Sancho, international specialists on Korea, and Samuel Perry, the first Korea Institute-Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies Postdoctoral Fellow, a joint appointment shared by the two centers.

James Duncan Phillips Professor of Early American History Joyce Chaplin, director of the Charles Warren Center for Studies in American History, has announced the names of nine resident scholars participating in the center’s 2007-08 workshop, “Politics and Social Movements.” Leading the workshop are Lisa McGirr, professor of history, and Daniel Carpenter, professor of government.

Kenneth Maxwell, director of the Harvard University Brazil Studies Program at the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies (DRCLAS) and visiting professor of history, has announced the arrival of the second class of Lemann Fellows.

Distrigas of Massachusetts/SUEZ Energy Resources has announced its support as the lead corporate sponsor of Wild Wednesdays, a program for urban youth at the Harvard Museum of Natural History (HMNH).

The Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies and Kodansha Publishers hosted the 13th annual Edwin O. Reischauer/Kodansha Ltd. Commemorative Symposium and the 12th annual awarding of the Noma-Reischauer Prizes in Japanese Studies on Oct. 19. These prizes are given annually by Kodansha Publishers for the best essays written by Harvard University students on Japan-related topics. The prize includes $2,000 for the best undergraduate essay and $3,000 for the best graduate essay.

Harvard’s small but active statistics department celebrated its 50th anniversary last week. There were two days of lectures and panels Oct. 26-27 at the Gutman Conference Center, and a noisy, social, and musical banquet at the Harvard Club of Boston.

To an assemblage of 1,000 freshman parents on Oct. 26 in Sanders Theatre, Dean of Harvard College David R. Pilbeam offered a welcome. “Your freshman is already a member of the extended Harvard family.”

Nov. 6, 1770 — Rumblings of Revolution: Joseph Avery, Class of 1771, orates on “Oppression and Tyranny” before the Speaking Club.