Medal winners are recognized for their ‘extraordinary service’

The Harvard Alumni Association is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2001 Harvard Medal: Samuel C. Butler ’51, LL.B. ’54, Victor Kwok-King Fung Ph.D. ’71, and Myra A. Mayman. First given in 1981, the Harvard Medal recognizes extraordinary service to the University. President Neil L. Rudenstine will present the medals during the Annual Meeting of the Harvard Alumni Association on the afternoon of Commencement, June 7.

Samuel Butler‘s involvement at Harvard runs the gamut from chief marshal at Commencement during his 25th reunion in 1976 to gift chairman for his 50th reunion this year. In between, he was an outstanding chairman of the Harvard College Fund from 1978 to 1984, a member of the Executive Committee of the Capital Campaign from 1979 to 1986, and an Overseer from 1982 to 1988, serving as president of the Board during his last two years. He has been a member of Harvard Law School (HLS) Dean’s Advisory Council since its formation in 1997 and was a recipient of the 1999 HLS Association Award at Commencement. A John Harvard Fellow and member of the National Major Gifts Committee, he is the former secretary of the Board of Managers of the Harvard Club of New York City and vice chair of its Schools Committee.

In every way, Butler’s loyalty and commitment to the University have been extraordinary.

Victor Fung received his Ph.D. in 1971 in applied mathematics and has been a special friend to Harvard during the past 30 years. He is called upon regularly for guidance and assistance in East Asia as well as here in Cambridge. He was catalytic in creating Harvard’s East Asia Center and has played a central role in increasing Harvard’s presence throughout his home region. In 1996, he received the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences’ Centennial Medal.

A former professor at Harvard’s Business School (HBS), he is a member of the HBS Visiting Committee. He has been president of the Harvard Club of Hong Kong and a member of the Visiting Committees to East Asian Studies. He serves on the Faculty of Arts and Sciences Advisory Committee to International Studies and the Executive Committee of the Committee on University Resources.

Harvard counts on Fung’s wisdom and generosity, and his steadfastness in advancing the purposes of Harvard.

Myra Mayman, founding director of the Office for the Arts at Harvard, has been the guiding force behind the growth and flowering of all the arts at Harvard. Under her dynamic leadership, the number and variety of programs in theater, dance, music, and visual arts have dramatically increased.

She created the annual Practice and Performance guide to the arts at Harvard, “Dance at Harvard: A Harvard Student’s Guide to Dance,” and the monthly Arts Spectrum newsletter. She was instrumental in the creation of the successful Learning from Performers series and the arts festival, Arts First, which has become a popular annual event in the Harvard and Cambridge communities.

An honorary associate and former master at Cabot House, she is president of the graduate board of the Signet Society, an arts and letters society for undergraduates and faculty.

The entire Harvard community has benefited from Mayman’s hard work and clear vision.