Large and small, plain and colored, splotched and dotted, eggs from the Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology’s vast collection are on display at the Harvard Museum of Natural History in a new exhibition of eggs and nests.
One day earlier this month, Sean Dorrance Kelly was at work in his sunny Emerson Hall office. On one side of his desk were books — a ceiling-high, room-wide stack of tomes ranging from Greek editions of Homer and contemporary works of neuroscience to books on twenthieth-century French, German, and Anglo-American philosophy.
Researchers at Harvard and Princeton universities have taken a crucial step toward building biological computers, tiny implantable devices that can monitor the activities and characteristics of human cells. The information provided by these “molecular doctors,” constructed entirely of DNA, RNA, and proteins, could eventually revolutionize medicine by directing therapies only to diseased cells or tissues.
In 1978, Deng Xiaoping visited Japan. Although the trip made little impression on the West, Ezra Vogel calls it one of the greatest meetings between national leaders of the 20th century. In fact, it was the first meeting between top leaders of the two countries in 2,500 years.
When Fotini Christia, a Ph.D. candidate in public policy at the Kennedy School, first arrived in Tehran to study Persian, she was struck by the enormous murals that dominated the city.
Crossing academic disciplines and the Atlantic Ocean, the Harvard University Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) and King’s College, Cambridge, have established the Joint Center for History and Economics (JCHE). The JCHE will facilitate and encourage interdisciplinary research and learning in the social sciences and the humanities.
In 1976, in the education journal Change, President Derek Bok famously asked, “Can ethics be taught?” At the time, few universities and even fewer faculty specialized in ethics; philosophers rarely applied their moral insights to real-world problems; and doctors, lawyers, businesspersons, and policymakers usually had little or no ethics training, even as the world was becoming increasingly complicated in matters of often long-ranging moral import.
Robert Darnton, currently the Shelby Cullom Davis Professor of European History at Princeton University, will become Carl H. Pforzheimer University Professor and director of the Harvard University Library, effective July 1, 2007, Provost Steven E. Hyman announced today (May 22).
Charles “Chuck” Carroll, longtime Harvard Division of Continuing Education (DCE) employee and a Harvard graduate, died on May 21, after succumbing to a rare blood disease. He was 65.
Nearly 80 percent of the students admitted to the Class of 2011 will enter Harvard in September, identical to last year’s Class of 2010. The yield may rise slightly once the final returns are in, including about 35 students who will be admitted from the waiting list over the coming weeks.
Barbara J. Grosz, Higgins Professor of Natural Sciences in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences’ School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and dean of science at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, will serve as interim dean of Radcliffe, effective July 1, 2007, President-elect Drew G. Faust announced today (May 11).
The Harvard University Faculty of Arts and Sciences approved Tuesday (May 15) a motion that sets the stage for the implementation of the first complete overhaul of general education for undergraduates in nearly 30 years. By voting to put in place a new program in General Education, the FAS is replacing the Core Program established in the late 1970s.
Back in March, at Cambridge’s King Open School, Matthew Gillen and José Terrasa-Soler asked fifth-graders how to make the city a nicer place to live in.
Harvard University has been awarded a city of Cambridge Go Green Business Award, which recognizes business and institutional leaders for their efforts to create a more sustainable city.
The Harvard heavyweight crew scored a three-for-one this past Sunday (May 13) at the 62nd annual Eastern Association of Rowing Colleges (EARC) Sprints. In capturing three gold and a pair of silver medals, Harvard seized the Rowe Cup (given for the best-overall team), reclaimed the Worcester Bowl (given to the winner of the varsity eight event), and won the Ivy League title. Now, all that’s remaining for the Crimson rowers, whose varsity eight contingent remains undefeated on the season, is the big one — the Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA) National Championships May 30-June 2 in Camden, N.J.
Black and White heavies to vie for national title The NCAA rowing committee has named the Radcliffe heavyweight crew as one of a dozen squads to receive a team-bid to the national championships May 26-27 at Melton Hill Lake in Oak Ridge, Tenn. Coming off a 10-5 dual racing season and a fourth-place finish at the EARC Sprints, the Black and White will make their 10th NCAA appearance in the 11-year history of the championship.
Morning Exercises To accommodate the increasing number of those wishing to attend Harvard’s Commencement Exercises, the following guidelines are proposed to facilitate admission into Tercentenary Theatre on Commencement Morning:
The Phillips Brooks House Association (PBHA) held its sixth annual Public Service Celebration on May 7 in the masters’ residence of Lowell House. A capacity crowd of 240, including PBHA public service leaders and volunteers, Harvard faculty and staff, and invited guests, attended the ceremony. The keynote address — traditionally comprising the reflections of three seniors — was presented by Chimaobi Amutah, Rabia Mir, and Aidan Madigan-Curtis.
The American Academy of Political and Social Science (AAPSS) recognized its new group of fellows for 2007 at an April 29 ceremony held in Washington, D.C. The 2007 fellows include four Harvard students and Harvard faculty members Claudia Goldin, the Henry Lee Professor of Economics, and Robert J. Sampson, the Henry Ford II Professor of the Social Sciences.
Eleven Harvard undergraduates will embark on an intense internship experience this summer, working alongside New York’s most innovative nonprofit organizations and government agencies to solve challenging problems facing children today.
Two Harvard students were recently named Joseph L. Barrett Award recipients. Administered by the Bureau of Study Counsel (BSC), the award commemorates Barrett (Class of ’73) and is given in recognition of promising young people at Harvard College who have enhanced the learning of others “with the vigor and openness so characteristic of Joe.”
Daniel Gilbert’s pursuit of the scientific basis of happiness has won him the Royal Society Prize for Science Books, it was announced on Tuesday (May 15). “Stumbling on Happiness,” which draws on psychology and neuroscience, as well as personal experience, explores the various ways people attempt to make themselves happy. Gilbert, who is a professor of psychology and a Harvard College Professor, uses science to show that it is not always through conventional routes that we find happiness.
For the second year, Harvard College students have been awarded Lester Kissel grants in Practical Ethics to carry out summer projects on a range of ethical issues. The seven grant winners will conduct research in the United States or abroad, and write reports, articles, or senior theses. Three of the students will carry out their projects on internships or foreign study. Each grant supports living and research expenses up to $3,000.
Musgrave memorial May 18 A memorial service for Professor Emeritus Richard Musgrave will be held on May 18 at 3 p.m. in the Memorial Church. Musgrave died Jan. 15 in Santa Cruz, Calif., at the age of 96.
Lecturer Chapman named Levenson winner Lecturer on anthropology Judith Flynn Chapman has been named the junior faculty recipient of the Levenson Award for Excellence in Teaching from the Undergraduate Council. Chapman (who is also the Allston Burr Senior Tutor in Quincy House) was selected to receive the award by the Student Affairs Committee of the Undergraduate Council, based on nominations by students.
Conference to celebrate two decades for Safra Foundation The Edmond J. Safra Foundation Center for Ethics will celebrate its 20th anniversary this weekend (May 18 and 19) with panel discussions featuring former and current members of the center. The conference will kick off with a keynote address by Thomas W. Lamont University Professor Amartya Sen on Friday (May 18) at 4:15 p.m. The title of the talk, which will be held in the Arthur M. Sackler Museum Lecture Hall, is “Can Justice Help Practice?” To view the complete agenda, visit http://www.ethics.harvard.edu or call (617) 495-1336 for more information.
Following are some of the incidents reported to the Harvard University Police Department (HUPD) for the week ending May 14. The official log is located at 1033 Massachusetts Ave., sixth floor, and is available online at http://www.hupd.harvard.edu/.
May 5, 1960 — Fine Arts Associate Professor Seymour Slive begins a visit to Leningrad (now St. Petersburg), Moscow, and Odessa as the first participant in a faculty exchange program between Harvard and the State University of Leningrad. Slive spends most of the month studying the celebrated collections of The Hermitage in Leningrad and lectures at the famous museum on 17th-century Dutch painting.
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