Campus & Community

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  • The road less traveled

    At first glance, Peter Brooks story sounds stereotypical: Like his two older brothers, he attended Philips Exeter Academy, then continued on to Harvard, following in the footsteps not only of his brothers, but also his father, grandfathers, great-grandfathers, and five uncles. Just a normal white preppy from Massachusetts, he says.

  • Constructing fantasies

    Melissa Goldman is passionate about set design. Its a subject to which she brings such infectious enthusiasm and obvious energy that even on a gray day, she can light up a black box – the empty hall of the Loeb Experimental Theater, venue for her latest production, Alice in Wonderland.

  • Teacher, doctor, entrepreneur, fighter

    In her junior year at Brown University, Julie Herlihy volunteered to teach children in a remote part of Africa. But when she got to Zimbabwe, no one wanted her. Following an orientation session, the person who was to take her to her assigned village never showed up.

  • ‘Extreme’ transformation

    Only a handful of architects get to be celebrities. Danny Forster has gone them one better. Hes a celebrity architecture student.

  • Shopping for the apocalypse

    If the purpose of art is to challenge and disturb, to push viewers beyond the borders of their comfort zone, then Jane Van Cleef is certainly an artist. The odd thing is that she manages to be unsettling using the most domesticated of materials – fabric and thread.

  • That was the year that was

    These days, every year seems packed more full of incident than the last. Around the world and here at Harvard, the academic year of 2005-06 was no exception. Now, as we celebrate the culmination of the academic calendar, it’s an ideal time to pause a moment to take a look at some of the high points of this eventful year.

  • Approval granted for Harvard Stem Cell Institute researchers to attempt creation of disease-specific embryonic stem cell lines

    After more than two years of intensive ethical and scientific review, Harvard Stem Cell Institute (HSCI) researchers at Harvard and Children’s Hospital Boston have been cleared to begin experiments using Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer (SCNT) to create disease-specific stem cell lines in an effort to develop treatments for a wide range of now-incurable conditions afflicting tens of millions of people.

  • Harvard Class of ’51

    Old friends and old soldiers gather for the Harvard Class of 1951 reunion.

  • John Kenneth Galbraith, remembered

    People came to Harvard from near and far to pay tribute to a man who was probably the most famous as well as the tallest economist of the second half of the 20th century.

  • Friends remember Galbraith as giant

    People came from near and far to Harvard May 31 to pay tribute to a man who was probably the most famous as well as the tallest economist of the second half of the 20th century, John Kenneth Galbraith, who died April 29 at the age of 97.

  • This month in Harvard history

    June 19, 1725 – The Harvard Corporation elects Benjamin Wadsworth, Class of 1690, as Harvards eighth President. June 11, 1776 – The Provincial Congress grants the College permission to reoccupy…

  • Police reports

    Following are some of the incidents reported to the Harvard University Police Department (HUPD) for the week ending May 29. The official log is located at 1033 Massachusetts Ave., sixth floor, and is available online at http://www.hupd.harvard.edu/.

  • Janet Browne named professor of the history of science at Harvard

    Janet Browne, a noted historian of biology whose two-part biography of Charles Darwin has won wide acclaim, has been named professor of the history of science in Harvard Universitys Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS), effective Sept. 1, 2006.

  • Losos named professor of organismic and evolutionary biology

    Leading evolutionary ecologist Jonathan B. Losos, whose study of Caribbean Anolis lizards has profoundly shaped our understanding of ecologys impact on species biodiversity, has been appointed professor of organismic and evolutionary biology in Harvard Universitys Faculty of Arts and Sciences, effective July 1.

  • Community outreach efforts of Schweitzer Fellows target those in need

    Honoring the legacy of Albert Schweitzer, area graduate students are committing to a year of service with a community agency. In a competitive selection process, 35 students – five of which are Harvard students – have been selected as 2006-07 Boston Schweitzer Fellows. Each fellow will devote more than 200 hours of service to local communities lacking access to adequate health services. The projects include tobacco education, teaching new immigrants how to shop for nutritious foods, diabetes counseling with Haitian immigrants, educating children in residential treatment centers on oral health, and publishing a community health newspaper.

  • In brief

    Kokkalis Program seeks intern The Kokkalis Program on Southeastern and East-Central Europe at the Kennedy School of Government (KSG) is now accepting intern applicants to assist with databases and international…

  • The bells are ringing…

    A peal of bells will ring throughout Cambridge next week, on Thursday (June 8). For the 18th consecutive year, a number of neighboring churches and institutions will ring their bells in celebration of the city of Cambridge and of Harvards 355th Commencement Exercises.

  • Commencement Guide

    The following services will be in effect at the University on Commencement Day, June 8. Restrooms Restrooms for the general public are located in Weld, Thayer, and Sever halls. These…

  • Herchel Smith research fellows named

    The third annual Herchel Smith Harvard Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowships have been granted to 44 Harvard College students. This year marks the second for a full cohort of fellows – and an increase of 50 percent from 2005.

  • Rappaport names summer fellows

    Seven Harvard graduate students were recently awarded prestigious Rappaport Summer Public Policy Fellowships by Harvards Rappaport Institute for Greater Boston. Natasha Epissina, Erick Guerra, Rebecca Haessig, Matthew Murray, Jeffrey Roth, Bijal Shah, and Diane Smith were among the 12 fellowship recipients.

  • ‘A How-To Guide’ explores Ben Franklin’s ‘can-do’ legacy

    Benjamin Franklin knew how to get things done: He was an inventor and scientist, printer and politician, writer and thinker. Not surprisingly, he managed all this in the 18th century, a time when a wide variety of printed materials and technical instruments gave intellectuals and the general public unprecedented access to information about science, technology, geographic exploration, politics, music, and religion. Armed with little formal education, Franklin consumed the increasingly available knowledge of his time and generated a lot himself. His legacy reflects a how-to nature that helps explain his great contributions to so many areas.

  • Finding a fossilized needle in an Arctic haystack

    The first season searching Arctic Canada for a fossil that would illuminate how our ancestors first crawled onto land proved Harvard Professor Farish Jenkins’ explorer’s maxim: Never go any place…

  • ‘Face-blindness’ disorder may not be so rare

    Researchers at Harvard University and University College London have developed diagnostic tests for prosopagnosia, a socially disabling inability to recognize or distinguish faces. They’ve already used the new test and…

  • Sunshine may help prevent breast cancer

    Evidence is piling up that boosting vitamin D intake may help prevent breast cancer. One major study of 1,760 women found that the higher the levels of vitamin D in…

  • University-wide career forum set for June 13

    Employment Services, collaborating with a University-wide organizing committee, is hosting its eighth annual career forum on June 13. This years event will be held at the Graduate School of Designs Gund Hall, 48 Quincy St. The event will be open to the public from 4 to 6:30 p.m.

  • M.P.A. director Sue Williamson dies at 60 from cancer

    Sue Williamson, director of the master in public administration (M.P.A.) program at the Kennedy School of Government, died May 27 at her home in Watertown, Mass., after battling cancer for several months. She was 60 years old.

  • Wexners pledge additional $6.3 million to center

    Leslie and Abigail Wexner, founding benefactors of the John F. Kennedy School of Governments Center for Public Leadership (CPL), have pledged an additional gift of $6.3 million to support the centers research, teaching, and leadership development over the coming three years.

  • College ‘pioneers’ honored by foundation

    In honor of the four black men of the class of 1952 – dubbed the pioneers – the Harvard Foundation and the Harvard Black Mens Forum held a tribute and reception earlier this spring. Walter C. Carrington 52, James M. Harkless 52, Herbert S. Hughes 52, and William M. Simmons 52 were presented with the Harvard Foundation medal during the April 22 event.

  • Newsmakers

    Ph.D. candidate named Newcombe Doctoral Dissertation Fellow The Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation has selected Japa Pallikkathayil, a Ph.D. candidate in philosophy, as one of its 30 Charlotte W. Newcombe…

  • Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures announces prizes

    The Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures has announced its 2005 – 06 award winners. Prizes to undergraduate and graduate students total more than $6,000.