Newsmakers

HBS’S LAURA ALFARO NAMED YOUNG GLOBAL LEADER

The World Economic Forum (WEF) has selected Associate Professor of Business Administration Laura Alfaro as a Young Global Leader 2008. This honor is bestowed each year to recognize the top 200-300 leaders under the age of 40 from around the world for their professional accomplishments and potential for shaping the future of the world.

A native of Costa Rica, Alfaro is a member of the Business, Government, and the International Economy Unit at Harvard Business School. She is also a faculty research fellow in the National Bureau of Economic Research’s International Macroeconomics and Finance Program and a faculty associate at Harvard University’s Weatherhead Center for International Affairs.
MELTON TO RECEIVE DIABETES CHAMPION AWARD

The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) will honor Thomas Dudley Cabot Professor of the Natural Sciences Doug Melton with its Nancy Jones Diabetes Champion Award at an April 12 gala event. The black-tie affair at the Boston Marriott Copley Place, themed “Hearts & Heroes,” is expected to raise a record $2 million for research to find a cure for type 1 diabetes.

Co-director of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute, Melton is being honored for his lab’s focus on stem cell biology and efforts in making pancreatic tissue for the treatment of diabetes. Melton and his wife, Gail, have two children, Sam and Emma, both with type 1 diabetes.

JDRF is the leading charitable fundraiser and advocate of type 1 (juvenile) diabetes research worldwide. Since its founding in 1970, the foundation has awarded more than $1 billion to diabetes research.
NATIONAL PARKS GROUP TO HONOR E.O. WILSON

The National Parks Conservation Association will honor Pellegrino University Research Professor Emeritus E.O. Wilson on April 16 as part of its 2008 Salute to the Parks awards ceremony. Specifically, the association will give Wilson its Robin W. Winks Award for Enhancing Public Understanding of National Parks for his work educating the public about the biological diversity and environmental importance of America’s national parks. An annual award, it recognizes an individual or organization that has effectively communicated the values of the National Park Service to the American public. The association will also honor U.S. Rep. Nick Rahall (D-W.Va.) with the William Penn Mott Jr. Park Leadership Award for his commitment to protecting America’s national parks.

The ceremony will be held at the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C. Attendees will include members of Congress, government officials, and national and local dignitaries.