Campus & Community

Muhsin S. Mahdi, the James Richard Jewett Professor of Arabic Emeritus, died July 9 after a long series of illnesses. He was 81.

Professor Alexander H. Leighton, first chair of the Department of Behavioral Sciences (now part of the Department of Society, Human Development, and Health) at the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH), passed away on Aug. 11 at his home in Nova Scotia, Canada. He was 99.

On Sept. 5, Harvard and the Harvard College Fund lost one of its best-known loyalists. George Peabody Gardner III, known to colleagues and friends everywhere as “Peabo,” succumbed to cancer…

The Edmond J. Safra Foundation Center for Ethics announced its Faculty Fellows in Ethics for 2007-08. Under the direction of Arthur Applbaum, professor of ethics and public policy, the fellows will spend the year participating in the center seminar and other activities, as well as pursuing their own research. Edward Hundert, senior lecturer on medical ethics in the Department of Social Medicine at the Harvard Medical School, will join the fellows as senior scholar for the year.

The following midcareer practitioners, whose work is dedicated to the improvement of the built and natural environment, will be in residence as Loeb Fellows at the Harvard Graduate School of Design (GSD) for the upcoming academic year.

The Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy, located at the Kennedy School of Government (KSG), recently announced its fall fellows.

As of Sept. 1, the University has adopted a new General Records Schedule (GRS) — a publication of records management services in the Harvard University Archives. The new GRS describes and sets standards for the management and retention of University records. This vital document is relevant to every Harvard office and applies to records in all formats and media, both paper and electronic.

Noah Feldman, professor of law, will present a lecture open to all students and staff titled “The Constitution and the International Order” at 1 p.m. on Sept. 17 in Lowell Lecture Hall.

As part of its evolving emergency communications procedures, Harvard University is making available text message alerts to students, faculty, and staff to be used only in the event of an extreme, campus-wide, life-threatening emergency.

On one of the last sweltering days of the summer, 1,675 first-years moved into the freshman dormitories. The next day the temperature dropped but their excitement didn’t. Over the coming weeks these new students face the challenge of adjusting to an entirely new life. To help them in these challenging first days — packed with academic, social, and cultural activities — “Opening Days” has been revamped for 2007.

Marcyliena Morgan, a noted linguistic anthropologist, and Lawrence D. Bobo, a renowned sociologist, have been appointed professors in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. Both will join the Department of African and African American Studies (AAAS); Bobo will have a joint appointment in sociology. Morgan and Bobo, who are husband and wife, were members of the Harvard faculty until 2005. They will return in January 2008.

As the University welcomes more than 240 freshman athletes to its various fields, courts, pitches, pools, rinks, and turfs this fall season, a group of new mentors and coaches will also settle in for their rookie season with the Crimson. Below are some of the new hires.

For all the talk about the commercialization and professionalizing of college sports, the one happy constant with athletics in academia is that players willingly perform in the same uniform for four whole seasons. Such loyalty among professional athletes, meanwhile, seems to be going the way of the granny shot.

Among the abundance of fun and free offerings for the public in and around Harvard Square this fall are two upcoming events sponsored by Harvard’s Office of Community Affairs.

The Harvard Alumni Association (HAA) Awards were established in 1990 to recognize outstanding service to Harvard University through alumni activities. This year’s awards ceremony will take place during the fall HAA board of directors meeting on Oct. 18.

Herchel Smith Professor of Mathematics Richard Taylor has been awarded the Shaw Prize in Mathematical Sciences for work that unified the diverse fields of prime numbers and symmetry. Taylor shares…

Mohamed A. El-Erian announced today (Sept. 11) that he plans to step down as president and chief executive officer of Harvard Management Company (HMC) at the end of 2007 and to return to his former company, Pacific Investment Management Company (PIMCO), as co-chief executive officer and co-chief investment officer.

A ceremony was held Sept. 21 at the Kennedy School of Government (KSG) announcing the establishment of the Giorgio Ruffolo Fellowships in Sustainability Science and introducing the first Ruffolo Fellows to the Harvard community.

Crimson football fans and Harvard history buffs might be surprised to learn that Saturday’s (Sept. 22) night game wasn’t, strictly speaking, the first time the stadium field was illuminated. In fact, for former Harvard footballers and current Crimson boosters Bob Brooks ’68, Chris Burns ’68, and Matt Donelan ’67, all of whom were in attendance for this past weekend’s showdown with Brown, playing in the dark (or at least surrounded by it) was something of an old hat. Though one particular night at the stadium over 40 years ago still resonates with the trio as being highly unusual.

Tamara Elliott Rogers, former director of major gifts in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) and associate director of University Development, and currently associate dean for advancement and planning at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, will become Harvard University’s next vice president for alumni affairs and development, President Drew Faust announced today (Sept. 7). Rogers will assume her new role on Oct. 1.

The inauguration of Drew Faust as Harvard’s 28th president will feature time-honored tradition — ancient artifacts and silver — world music, and talk of tomorrow’s promise.

Following are some of the incidents reported to the Harvard University Police Department (HUPD) for the week ending Aug. 20. The official log is located at 1033 Massachusetts Ave., sixth floor, and is available online at http://www.hupd.harvard.edu/.

Professor Pilbeam to serve as interim dean of College; Cohen named to Technology Review’s list of top young innovators; Forstein named to residency review committee of ACGME

Ann MacMillan Wacker, co-master of Cabot House from 1978 to 1984, died May 18. Wacker was married to Warren E.C. Wacker, Henry K. Oliver Professor of Hygiene Emeritus and, from 1971 to 1989, the director of University Health Services.

Launched in August 2006 with a mission to create a new generation of leaders who possess a broad perspective on the promotion of healthy child development, the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University recently announced the recipients of its first Julius B. Richmond Fellowship.

Members of the Harvard Union of Clerical and Technical Workers (HUCTW) bargaining unit who have child-care costs during working hours (between January and December 2008) are eligible to apply for an HUCTW Childcare Fellowship.

Assistant Professor of Pathology Amy Wagers of the Harvard-affiliated Joslin Diabetes Center has been named to the W.M. Keck Foundation’s 2007 class of Distinguished Young Scholars in Medical Research.

Lee and Deborah Gehrke, who served as acting House co-masters of Quincy House during the 2006-07 academic year, have been appointed Quincy House co-masters.

Harvard Habitat for Humanity’s upcoming multiday “Stuff Sale” will feature more than $80,000 of used furniture, electronics, appliances, storage containers, games, sports equipment, mirrors, vases, clothes, and more.

The Harvard Undergraduate Council, the Harvard Graduate Council, and the Phillip Brooks House Association have partnered to coordinate the first University-wide Day of Service on Sept. 29.