Year: 2005

Robert Bridgeman (from left), director of PBH Programs, Amanda Sonis Glynn, director of the Harvard Public Service Network, Mina Makarious 06, and Mae Bunagan 06 seem to enjoy sorting through gifts donated for the Phillips Brooks House gift drive.

The 50th anniversary conference of the Fairbank Center for East Asian Research took place over three days (Dec. 9-11), attracting hundreds of scholars from around the world, who gathered to hear and participate in panels on Chinas domestic politics, international relations, economy, social conditions, literature, and philosophical traditions.

From the perspective of Harvards 369-year history, the gates in and around the campus are a relatively new phenomenon. For more than two-thirds of its existence, Harvard had nothing more to guard its perimeter than a low post-and-beam fence. When the Johnston Gate – the initial component of the present-day enclosure – went up in…

The day before she visited Harvard, Louise Arbour, the United Nations High Commissioner on Human Rights, was criticized by the U.S. Ambassador to the UN, John Bolton. Arbour had just issued a statement on terrorists and torturers, in which she said that the absolute ban on torture, a cornerstone of the international human rights edifice,…

Math homework is not one of 10-year-old Aubrey Cappuccis favorite things, but at The East End House after-school program in her East Cambridge neighborhood, shes found a way to learn about math and love it – through games.

The 2005 Annual Report of the Corporation Committee on Shareholder Responsibility (CCSR), a subcommittee of the President and Fellows, is now available upon request from the Office for the Committees on Shareholder Responsibility. Please call (617) 495-0985 to request copies.

Undaunted by whiteout conditions during the surprisingly violent Dec. 9 blizzard, a couple of brave souls stroll casually through Harvard Yard.

Harvard School of Dental Medicine (HSDM) researcher Martin Nweeia has just answered a marine science question that had eluded the scientific community for hundreds of years: why does the narwhal, or unicorn, whale have an 8-foot-long tooth emerging from its head, and what is its function? Nweeia, a clinical instructor in restorative dentistry and biomaterials…

The Edmond J. Safra Foundation Center for Ethics recently announced that Harvard College students are eligible to apply for a Lester Kissel Grant in Practical Ethics to support research and writing that makes contributions to the understanding of practical ethics. A number of grants will be awarded on a competitive basis for projects to be…

Thick-skinned bottle gourds widely used as containers by prehistoric peoples were likely brought to the Americas some 10,000 years ago by individuals who arrived from Asia, according to a new genetic comparison of modern bottle gourds with gourds found at archaeological sites in the Western Hemisphere. The finding solves a longstanding archaeological enigma by explaining…

A group of 25 Harvard students is reaching far beyond the boundaries of Harvards Cambridge campus – into developing nations to lend a hand to microfinance organizations seeking to help low-income residents pull themselves out of poverty.

After a semester studying everything from the press in China to the culture wars in the United States, five research fellows from the Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy shared their findings during a discussion Monday afternoon (Dec. 12) at the Kennedy School of Government.

Forty-three hundred members of the Harvard community signed the Campus Sustainability Pledge in a two-week campaign that ended on Nov. 23. In so doing, pledgers promised to support Harvards official Campus-wide Sustainability Principles and to implement those principles in their own lives by taking simple actions to conserve resources.

In the 1800s, the railroads crisscrossing New England had a problem.

The official portrait of beloved former Dean of Students Archie Epps III was unveiled recently in its permanent home in University Hall. The framed, oil-on-canvas portrait was painted by Stephen Coit 72. Valerie Epps, professor of law at Suffolk University, spoke at the unveiling of her late husbands picture. Archie Epps, who received a degree…

Monique Rinere, dean of Butler College at Princeton University, has been named associate dean of advising programs for Harvard College, effective Feb. 27. In this newly created position, the associate dean will coordinate, manage, and monitor the academic advising systems for all undergraduates.

Brad Noblet and Elizabeth Hess have been named to senior computing posts in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS).

Jill Lepore calls it one of the saddest, most tragic stories Ive ever come across. And its even sadder because no ones ever heard about it.

Edward O. Wilson, Pellegrino University Professor Emeritus of biology at Harvard, is celebrated worldwide for his contributions to evolutionary biology, spurred by a lifelong passion for ants. He is also the distinguished recipient of two Pulitzer Prizes for nonfiction writing. But on Nov. 29, Wilson assumed the role of amateur historian to commemorate another famed…

The music industry should embrace the passion of fans for their tunes and find ways to encourage consumer tools like online playlists rather than fighting such innovations as yet another form of file-sharing, a new report says.

William R. Kenan Jr. Professor of English and American Literature and Language Marjorie Garber has won the 2005 Christian Gauss Award for Shakespeare After All (Pantheon Books, 2004). The $2,500 award is offered annually by the Phi Beta Kappa Society for books in the field of literary scholarship or criticism.

David Westfall, who held the John L. Gray and Carl F. Schipper Jr. professorships at Harvard Law School (HLS), died Dec. 7 surrounded by his family. He was 78.

The Tennis Camps at Harvard (TCH), one of the areas most appealing summer activities for children and adults, will start its 16th season on June 12 at the Beren Tennis Center at Soldiers Field Athletic Complex.

Tay nabs rookie honors The Ivy League nominated Harvard basketball’s Emily Tay ’09 its Rookie of the Week for the period beginning Dec. 12. The freshman guard is Harvard’s top…

The intimate confines of the fencing room in Harvards Malkin Athletic Center are perhaps better-suited for practice than competition, but on the evening of Dec. 7, it was bursting at the seams as a raucous and impassioned crowd of Crimson supporters watched the Harvard fencing teams continue their strong start with convincing victories over Brandeis.

Rev. Griswold to preach at Memorial Church service The Most Rev. Frank T. Griswold III ’59 will preach at the Memorial Church on Sunday (Dec. 18) at the 11 a.m.…

Family Firm Institute honors HBS professor Renato Tagiuri, professor of social sciences in business administration emeritus at Harvard Business School (HBS), has received the Richard Beckhard Practice Award from the…