Newsmakers

Royal Society elects Porter fellow

Michael E. Porter, the Bishop William E. Lawrence University Professor at the Harvard Business School, has been elected an honorary fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in recognition of his “outstanding contributions” to the field of competitive strategy as well as his achievements in public service. The Royal Society was founded in 1783 by royal charter for the “advancement of learning and useful knowledge.”

Kawamura to present lecture, demonstration on Noh theater

Noh theater actor Haruhisa Kawamura will participate in a lecture-demonstration titled “Spirits of the Noh Stage” on April 20 at 7 p.m. at Lowell Hall. Moderated by Takashima Professor of Japanese Humanities Jay Rubin, the event, which is free and open to the public, is presented by Learning From Performers and Harvard’s Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations.

Ph.D. candidate honored by anatomy society

Harvard Ph.D. candidate Joshua B. Gross has been named the winner of the Young Anatomist’s Publication Award from the American Association of Anatomists (AAA). Gross, who was honored at the association’s annual meeting on April 5, received the award for his manuscript “Use of Fluorescent Dextran Conjugates as a Long-Term Marker of Osteogenic Neural Crest in Frogs,” which appeared in the May 2004 issue of Developmental Dynamics.

Gross and co-author James Hanken, the Alexander Agassiz Professor of Zoology in the Museum of Comparative Zoology, report a relatively simple technique for studying the elusive population of neural crest-derived osteogenic (bone-forming) cells in Xenopus laevis by using fluorescent-labeled dextran conjugates. In recognizing the work, the award committee notes that it provided a novel technique for labeling neural crest cells and that the authors apply the technique to a timely issue – skull bone formation.

– Compiled by Andrew Brooks