Campus & Community

Following a nationwide search that began last fall, President Lawrence H. Summers announced today that he has appointed William A. Graham, Murray A. Albertson Professor of Middle Eastern Studies and Professor of the History of Religion, as the next dean of the Harvard Divinity School, effective immediately.

James C. Thomson, former Nieman Foundation curator, East-Asia historian and key figure in the Kennedy and Johnson administrations, died Sunday, Aug. 11, 2002, at Newton-Wellesley Hospital of cardiac arrest after a brief illness. He was 70.

Following a nationwide search, President Lawrence H. Summers announced today that he has appointed William A. Graham, Murray A. Albertson Professor of Middle Eastern Studies and Professor of the History of Religion, as the next dean of the Harvard Divinity School, effective immediately. Graham has served as Acting Dean of the School since January 2002.

A new report by a National Academy of Sciences panel co-chaired by Harvard Emeritus Professor Lewis M. Branscomb calls for the United States to take immediate steps, such as better protection of nuclear weapons and materials, to reduce its vulnerability to terror attacks. The report also outlines urgent areas for future research.

Forty years after their forerunners took to the lunch counters and streets of the American South, 21 young activists are putting their own spin on civil rights: by dancing, teaching, praying, and learning. The future leaders are honing their advocacy and activism skills at the second annual Civil Rights Summer (CRS), a fellowship program sponsored by The Civil Rights Project at Harvard, the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, the Leadership Conference Education Fund, and the Citizens’ Commission on Civil Rights.

Seven months after a Harvard committee recommended changes to improve wages and working conditions for the University’s lowest-paid workers, wages have been raised and a parity policy enacted to ensure that contracted employees receive compensation equivalent to their Harvard counterparts. These measures implement the core recommendations of the Harvard Committee on Employment and Contracting Policies (HCECP).

Multiple sclerosis is an unnerving disease. White blood cells, which usually protect the body against illness, launch attacks on the central nervous system. These rebellious cells destroy fatty sheaths that surround and protect nerve cells, interfering with conduction of nerve impulses in the brain and spinal cord. Movement, coordination, and sensation become impaired, leading to symptoms ranging from clumsiness and slurred speech to incontinence and paralysis.

Imagine taking public transportation from Harvard Medical School to East Cambridge and never passing through Downtown Crossing – for the local inhabitant, a miraculous feat.

July 17, 1810 – President Samuel Webber dies in office.

Ellen Condliffe Lagemann (right), in her second day as dean of the Graduate School of Education, visited the Cambridge Harvard Summer Academy at the Cambridge Rindge and Latin School Tuesday (July 16) with Professor Kay Merseth, director of the Teacher Education Program at the GSE (left). After visiting math, social studies, and literature classes, Lagemann met with some of the 66 intern teachers – students beginning the Teacher Education Program at the GSE – and 21 mentor teachers who are helping 275 Cambridge high school students excel in their studies this summer.

Following are some of the incidents reported to the Harvard University Police Department (HUPD) for the weeks beginning June 9 and ending July 13. The official log is located at 1033 Massachusetts Ave., sixth floor.

Frank J. Weissbecker, director of Harvard Dining Services for nearly three decades, died of lung cancer June 27 at his home in Weston. He was 80.

The Harvard Childrens Initiative and the Institute for Community Health in Cambridge released a report last month on the gap-s in Cambridges current child mental health system in hopes of making Cambridge a model community in its handling of child mental health issues.

The President of the Harvard Alumni Association announced the results of the annual election of new members of the Harvard Board of Overseers and the HAA Elected Directors. The results were released at the annual meeting of the association following the Universitys 351st Commencement. The five newly elected Overseers, in order of their finish, are: Frances D. Fergusson, 18,542 William F. Lee, 16,738 Richard I. Melvoin, 16,555 Jaime Sepulveda, 16,238 and Penny Pritzker, 16,183. The candidate who received the sixth-highest number of votes, 14,422.

René Becker has a thing for bread.

Former Harvard Business School (HBS) Professor Pearson Hunt, an authority on corporate finance whose research helped shape modern financial management practices, died June 30 at Mt. Auburn Hospital in Cambridge. Hunt was 93.

July 18, 2002

Seven months after a Harvard committee recommended changes to improve wages and working conditions for the Universitys lowest-paid workers, wages have been raised and a parity policy enacted to ensure that contracted employees receive compensation equivalent to their Harvard counterparts.

As of June 13, the University and its three principal service unions completed negotiations resulting in significant wage increases for workers employed directly by the University and by outside contractors. Members of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU, Local 254), representing custodians, the Hotel Employees Restaurant Employees International Union (HEREIU, Local 26), representing dining hall workers, and the Harvard University Security, Parking and Museum Guards Union (HUSPMGU) — will see starting wage rates that exceed the range of $10.83 to $11.30 per hour recommended by the Harvard Committee on Employment and Contracting Policies, chaired by Professor Lawrence Katz.

Forty years after their forerunners took to the lunch counters and streets of the American South, 21 young activists are putting their own spin on civil rights: by dancing, teaching, praying, and learning.

Capping off a tremendous 2002 season, Harvards heavyweight crew captured three championship titles – a new school record – at the prestigious Henley Royal Regatta, which concluded July 7 on the Thames River in Oxfordshire, England.

They werent playing around while playing a round, because they were golfing for a serious cause.

Think of Paul Gauguin, working as a stockbroker in Paris and painting on weekends. Or of Maurice de Vlaminck, supporting his family as a violin teacher while creating his incandescent landscapes.

Researchers have identified a protein that may help to explain why the brains cerebral cortex is disproportionately larger in humans than in other species, a finding that appears in the July 19 issue of Science and adds an important piece to the developing blueprint of the part of the brain responsible for the intellectual abilities that make humans unique.

A new report by a National Academy of Sciences panel co-chaired by Harvard Emeritus Professor Lewis M. Branscomb calls for the United States to take immediate steps, such as better protection of nuclear weapons and materials, to reduce its vulnerability to terror attacks. The report also outlines urgent areas for future research.

It is early morning and a single scull glides over the rivers surface. Propelled by the rowers rhythmic strokes, it seems one with the water as it whispers past a family of geese or threads needle-like through the bridges arc.

Donald Oliver, a professor of education who delighted in debate and developed a curriculum to stimlate discussion of social issues in junior and senior high schools, died June 28 at the age of 73.

Physicist Costas D. Papaliolios, professor of physics emeritus at Harvard University, died June 6. He was 71.

Robert Dorfman, emeritus professor of political economy, died June 24 in his home in Belmont after a long illness. He was 85.