Campus & Community

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  • Songwriter carries more than one tune

    Nima Samimi, recipient of a degree in Middle Eastern Studies, is a jack of all trades and a master of at least a few, including academics, music, and social justice.

    Samimi standing near a tree
  • A long road, well chronicled

    Denise-Marie Ordway, with a large family and impressive resumé, excels as Nieman Fellow, HGSE master’s candidate

    Denise-Marie Ordway
  • Strong yield for the Class of 2023

    Nearly 83 percent of students admitted to the Class of 2023 have chosen to matriculate at Harvard College. Here’s their demographic breakdown.

    One of Harvard's many ornate gates.
  • James Allan Davis, 86

    At a Meeting of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences on May 7, 2019, the Minute honoring the life and service of the late James Allan Davis, Professor of Sociology, Emeritus, was placed upon the records. Professor Davis devoted himself to building empirical foundations for social science, especially in survey and public opinion research.

  • Patrick Thaddeus, 84

    At a Meeting of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences on May 7, 2019, the Minute honoring the life and service of the late Patrick Thaddeus, Robert Wheeler Willson Professor of Applied Astronomy, Emeritus, was placed upon the records. Professor Thaddeus was a founder of and long-time leader in the field of astrochemistry

  • 5 named Harvard College Professors

    Dean Claudine Gay named five members of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences as the newest Harvard College Professors.

  • Student employees honored

    Eleanor Lieberman ’19 won this year’s Harvard Student Employee of the Year award, but all 24 nominees were honored at an event on April 18.

    Salvador Peña looks at a file in an office
  • Crimson EMS in action

    A student-run emergency medical services organization at Harvard, Crimson CMS facilitates the training, certification, and volunteer service of EMTs.

    Terzah Hill observes Evan Komorowski and Thomas Wobby moving a gurney.
  • Step, sing, and dance in time

    The Harvard community came out to join in the 2019 Arts Festival with live music and dance performances, arts and crafts, theater, and more.

    Parker Quartet and Brattle Street Chamber Players perform on stage.
  • 10 faculty elected to National Academy of Sciences

    Ten Harvard University scientists have been elected by their peers to the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) in recognition of “their distinguished and continuing achievements in original research.” Two Harvard scientists also received awards from the NAS.

    National Academy of Sciences
  • Overcoming the odds

    Onege Maroadi graduates from the Harvard Extension School with a master’s degree in international relations, a clean bill of health after fighting stage 3 cancer, a plan to help the world become a more peaceful place, and a happy toddler at home. But she almost didn’t make it to Cambridge.

  • Celebrating Native American culture

    The 24th annual Harvard Powwow, to be held May 4, celebrates Native American peoples and cultures.

    ason Packineau (from left), Sarah Sadlier, and Shelly Lowe.
  • Students find solutions for social issues

    A mobile app that stops cyberbullying, a way to support tenants’ rights and housing advocacy, technology that raises the standard of infection prevention, and a science-driven approach to reinventing everyday consumer products received the four top prizes in the eighth annual President’s Innovation Challenge Showcase and Awards Ceremony.

    Winners pose with their checks
  • Family fellows

    Sonia Gomez and Marla Ramírez were a few weeks into their fellowships at the Mahindra Humanities Center when they discovered a surprising family connection.

    Sonia Gomez and Marla Ramirez.
  • Martin Kilson, College’s first tenured African American professor, dies at 88

    Martin Kilson, who in 1969 became the first African American to be named a full professor at Harvard College, died on April 24.

    Martin Kilson
  • Al Gore named Class Day speaker

    Al Gore has been chosen to speak on Class Day, the day before Harvard’s 368th Commencement. The former vice president, a Nobel Prize laureate and Harvard alumnus, has had a long career in public service and since leaving office has devoted his life to raising awareness of the threat of climate change.

    Al Gore
  • For more than just laughs

    Harvard College’s Immediate Gratification Players discuss how improv skills can translate to social and professional skills.

    Students in a circle strike poses to practice their improv techniques.
  • Adjusting the flight plan

    Jake Moore will add a degree from the Kennedy School to the medals and commendations he has earned over 15 years in the Navy. His post-military target is human rights work with refugees and asylum seekers.

    Moore looking at a river
  • Playing like they mean it

    Chess players from around the region gathered at the Smith Campus Center last weekend for a chess tournament that saw players of all skill level and ages meet on the chessboard.

  • Increasing digital accessibility

    As part of its ongoing efforts to ensure the accessibility of its digital systems and communications to persons with disabilities, Harvard University today announced the adoption of a new, University-wide Digital Accessibility Policy. This policy is intended to increase the accessibility of Harvard’s public-facing websites and web-based applications, as well as the digital content that Harvard creates and posts on those sites.

    Computer keyboard symbolizing digital access
  • $9 million donation earmarked for cannabis research

    Alumnus gives $9 million in largest donation to date to support independent research on the science of cannabinoids at Harvard and MIT. “Our desire is to fill the research void that currently exists in the science of cannabis,” said donor Charles R. “Bob” Broderick.

  • ‘Stunning progress’

    The public arena has made great strides toward diversity — as Harvard’s evolution has shown — but neighborhoods and schools need to catch up, according to sociologist Orlando Patterson, who said he arrived on an overwhelmingly white campus in 1970.

    Orlando Patterson
  • ‘The work of culture alters our perceptions’

    The two-day “Vision & Justice” conference at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study brought together a wide range of scholars and artists for performances and discussions considering the role of the arts in understanding the nexus of art, race, and justice.

  • Walton named dean of Wake Forest School of Divinity

    The Rev. Jonathan Walton will step down from his role as Plummer Professor of Christian Morals and Pusey Minister of the Memorial Church in order to become dean of Wake Forest University School of Divinity. Walton, who assumed leadership of the church in 2012, will leave this summer.

  • Service time, and the living is easy

    Harvard College’s incoming class will have a chance to participate in the inaugural Service Starts with Summer Program (3SP), an initiative meant to encourage students to engage in public service in their hometowns.

  • Diversity and dialogue in an age of division

    Harvard faculty and administrators discussed racism, sexism, LGBTQ rights, politics, and poverty at the FAS Diversity Conference “A Decade of Dialogue.”

    Keynote speaker Tim Wise at the symposium on diversity.
  • The flourishing of Genesis

    Genesis De Los Santos grew up in Dorchester and credits her community’s support for her unlikely journey from a neighborhood school to a private middle school academy to an elite high school and then to Harvard.

    Genesis standing at a table
  • They’re alive!

    The living walls at the Richard A. and Susan F. Smith Campus Center — eight organic interior designs made of climbing, creeping arms of trees and blocks of ferns and other tropical plants —are a welcome addition to Harvard’s newly configured social hub year-round.

    Tiago Pereira tending to the green wall
  • Running out of time

    Harvard seniors share their bucket lists of things to do during their final semester.

    Victor Agbafe at the Harvard Museum of Natural History.
  • The green escape

    A sustainability-themed escape room served as a test of puzzle-solving skills and a lesson on sustainable lifestyle shifts during Harvard Heat Week.

    Jena Lorman (left), Michael Cheng, and Tyler Morris solve puzzles in a sustainability-themed "escape room."