Campus & Community

Edward Willett Wagner, Professor of Korean Studies at Harvard for thirty-five years and founder of Korean studies in the United States, passed away at the age of 77 on December 7, 2001. He left his wife, Namhi Kim Wagner; two sons, Robert Camner and J. Christopher Wagner; three stepdaughters, Yunghi Choi Wagner, Sokhi Choi Wagner, and Sanghi Choi Wagner; a brother, John P. Wagner; and four grandchildren.

Bradford Cannon, a caring, talented, imaginative plastic surgeon at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) was an acknowledged surgical pioneer for much of the twentieth century. He was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1907, to Walter Bradford Cannon born in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, and Cornelia James Cannon of Cambridge, MA. A year later his father became the Higginson Professor of Physiology at HMS. Brad Cannon graduated from Harvard College in 1929 and Harvard Medical School in 1933.

Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) Dean Barry R. Bloom has been awarded the Grand Cross of the Order of Makarios III, which is the highest honor awarded in the Republic of Cyprus to individuals who have made a substantial contribution to the welfare of the Cypriot people.

On March 18 at approximately 1:15 a.m., a male undergraduate student reported to the Harvard University Police Department (HUPD) that he was the victim of an attempted armed robbery while walking on John F. Kennedy Street.

Members of the Harvard community are authorities in game theory, Celtic poetry, and quantum mechanics — and in emergency plumbing repairs, automobile maintenance, and preparing a mean tiramisu. Until now, students have had scant opportunity to tap the vast campus expertise that resides outside the classroom. That’s changing this year, though, with the expansion of Harvard College’s academic smorgasbord to include seminars with titles like “Car Care Basics,” “Brownies,” and “Wardrobe 101.”

Harvard’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) announced the debut of its new seal earlier this week. The design is based on the seal created for the Harvard School of Engineering in 1936 by Pierre de Chaignon la Rose (class of 1895).

Joanna Aizenberg, a leader in the analysis of unique biomaterials that have evolved to carry out multiple functions in some organisms, has been appointed Gordon McKay Professor of Materials Science in Harvard University’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences and its School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS), effective July 1, 2007.

Sports briefs

After having proved herself on the international stage as a two-time Olympic medalist, senior forward Julie Chu recently earned more than a bit of validation as the nation’s top collegiate player by taking home the prestigious Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award.

The defending national champion Maryland women’s basketball team (28-5) outscored the 15th-seeded Harvard Crimson 13-2 in the opening five minutes of the second half en route to an 89-65 victory in first-round NCAA tournament action Sunday afternoon (March 18) at the Hartford Civic Center. The loss marks Harvard’s first in 13 games, eliminating the Ivy League champions from the Big Dance. The No. 2-seeded Terrapins, meanwhile, will face Mississippi in the second round on March 20.

The Kennedy School of Government (KSG) recently announced that the Broadmoor Project is being launched to formalize the School’s existing relationship with residents of the New Orleans neighborhood that was severely damaged by Hurricane Katrina. KSG students and staff will spend March 25-31 in New Orleans to continue the work of the ongoing project.

Alan J. Stone has agreed to stay on as vice president for Government, Community and Public Affairs through the 2007-08 academic year, President-elect Drew G. Faust announced Monday (March 19).

The Wasserstein family has made a $25 million gift to Harvard Law School to support construction of Wasserstein Hall, the new academic center of the Harvard Law School (HLS) campus, Dean Elena Kagan announced today (March 22). The gift is the second biggest in the Law School’s history.

Gordon Hall’s second-floor hallway was alive with the chatter of more than 100 medical students catching up with classmates and renewing old acquaintances as they waited to be summoned past a cluster of colorful balloons, up a short flight of stairs, and into Room 213 where their futures waited. The students, members of Harvard Medical School’s 2007 graduating class, were taking part in an annual ritual Thursday (March 15) where medical students around the country find out in which hospitals they’ll be continuing their medical training as residents.

Harvard College tuition will rise 3.9 percent to $31,456 for academic year 2007-08, and need-based scholarship aid will grow by 6.8 percent to $103 million. The total package (tuition plus room, board, and student services fee) will be $45,620, a 4.5 percent increase over last year. More than two-thirds of the Harvard entering class receives financial aid (including scholarships, loans, and jobs), with over 50 percent qualifying for need-based scholarship assistance and an average total aid package of close to $34,000, bringing the average cost down to about $12,000.

Pulitzer Prize-winning composer John Adams ’69, M.A. ’72 will return to Harvard to accept the 2007 Harvard Arts Medal as a part of the Arts First weekend festivities (May 3-6). Adams will take part in a variety of forums that will provide opportunities to learn about his artistic accomplishments firsthand, including a lecture by the composer in Paine Hall and a discussion with the actor John Lithgow ’67, as part of the Office for the Arts’ Learning From Performers series. Using clips of his operatic works “Nixon in China” (1987), “The Death of Klinghoffer” (1991), “Dr. Atomic” (2005), and “On the Transmigration of Souls” (2002), Adams will also discuss the theme “Music and the American Mythology” at the Radcliffe Gym.

William H. (Bill) Gates, one of the world’s most influential business leaders and foremost philanthropists, will be the principal speaker at the Afternoon Exercises during Harvard’s 356th Commencement on June 7.

This month in Harvard history

Following are some of the incidents reported to the Harvard University Police Department (HUPD) for the week ending March 12. The official log is located at 1033 Massachusetts Ave., sixth floor, and is available online at http://www.hupd.harvard.edu/.

Max H. Bazerman, Harvard Business School’s Jesse Isidor Straus Professor of Business Administration, has received the 2006 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Aspen Institute’s Business and Society Program.

Cambridge Health Alliance (CHA), the nonprofit health-care system with strong ties to Harvard and Tufts medical schools, recently announced that its Center for Multicultural Mental Health Research (CMMHR) has received…

Teresa and John Heinz Professor of Environmental Policy at the Kennedy School of Government John Holdren recently delivered the keynote address at the annual conference of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) last month in San Francisco. The director of the Science, Technology, and Public Policy program at the Belfer Center and a professor of environmental science and public policy, Holdren is the outgoing president of the prestigious science and technology association.

New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof has been named this year’s graduation speaker at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government (KSG). Kristof will deliver his remarks June 6 in the John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum.

The Center for Wellness and Health Communication at Harvard University Health Services will offer several sessions and courses this spring ranging from yoga and Reiki to integrating feng shui in the workplace.

The Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE) has asked Harvard College seniors to nominate secondary school teachers who have impacted their lives. As part of a new award given by the dean’s office, the Singer Prize for Excellence in Secondary Teaching — funded by the Paul Singer Family Foundation — will recognize the extraordinary work of four exceptional teachers. Earlier this month, Harvard College seniors were asked to submit short essays to nominate a particularly influential secondary school teacher for the prize.

Paul M. Weissman ’52 and Harriet L. Weissman, whose gift created the University Library’s Weissman Preservation Center in 2000, have announced vital new support for the center’s growing photograph conservation program. With a $1.25 million gift announced on March 1, they will support the senior photograph conservator’s position in the Weissman Preservation Center.

Serhii Plokhii, a prolific scholar whose studies have opened up a new pathway of studying Ukraine’s relationship with Eastern and Central Europe, has been appointed Hrushevs’kyi Professor of Ukrainian History in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS), effective July 1.

At 127:09, Saturday evening’s (March 10) wild marathon featuring the women icers of Harvard vs. Wisconsin in the first round of the NCAA tournament appeared to be the result of some sort of daylight-savings glitch. Boasting four overtimes, the game lasted so long (four and a half hours including breaks) that the Kohl Center’s stat-tracking software couldn’t accommodate the seven periods of play. But in fact, the lengthy battle — pitting the nation’s top offensive and defensive squads (the Crimson and the Badgers, respectively) — was a product of some seriously inspired, entirely human efforts from the game’s two goaltenders.

Allston-Brighton’s youngest hockey fans and their families enjoyed skating on Crimson ice at the 18th Allston-Brighton Family Skating Party at Harvard last week. The annual event, held at the Bright Hockey Center, is a popular night out for neighboring families.

IBM and the Ash Institute for Democratic Governance and Innovation at the Kennedy School of Government (KSG) recently announced the creation of a $100,000 award program to recognize the world’s most transformative government programs.