Campus & Community

Newsmakers

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DEPT.OF SLAVIC LANGUAGES AND LITERATURES AWARDS PRIZES

The Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures recently awarded Antonio Lupher ’08 and graduate student Ana Olenina its V.M. Setchkarev Memorial Prize for their essays on Russian literature. Prizes of $500 each went to Lupher for his essay “Materializing Words: The Poetry of Konstantin Vaginov and Nikolai Zabolotskii” and to Olenina for her paper titled “Delat’ kamen’ kamennym: Mandel’shtam and Shklovskii on Life and Death of the Poetic Word.”

HUMBOLDT FOUNDATION ELECTS VISITING PROFESSOR KOBAYASHI

The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, a nonprofit established by the Federal Republic of Germany for the promotion of international research cooperation, has elected Visiting Professor of Mathematics Toshiyuki Kobayashi as a recipient of its Humboldt Research Award. The fellowship is awarded to outstanding scientists and scholars whose fundamental discoveries have had a significant impact on their discipline and who are expected to continue producing cutting-edge achievements. Award winners are invited to spend a period of up to one year cooperating on a long-term research project with specialist colleagues at a research institution in Germany. The stay may also be divided into several extended visits.

German scientist Joachim Hilgert of Paderborn University nominated Kobayashi for this award.

GILDER LEHRMAN SCHOLAR NAMED

Harvard junior Wangui Muigai was recently named a 2008 Gilder Lehrman History Scholar. She is one of 15 students selected by competitive application to participate in the program. This summer, the scholars will study in New York City for five weeks in a program that combines historical research, seminars with eminent historians, and behind-the-scenes tours of historical archives. Each scholar will have the opportunity to produce original research resulting from his or her work. This year’s class will work with primary source documents from the Revolutionary Era in the Gilder Lehrman Collection.

Now in its sixth year, the Gilder Lehrman History Scholars Program has included students who have gone on to history Ph.D. programs at Columbia University, the University of Michigan, and the University of North Carolina. The program is sponsored by the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, which promotes “the study and love of American history.”

ACKERMAN PRESENTS ADDRESS AT ITALIAN CONFERENCE

James S. Ackerman, Arthur Kingsley Porter Professor of Fine Arts Emeritus, recently delivered the inaugural address for a six-day international symposium celebrating the 500th anniversary of the birth of the Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio. Ackerman presented the address on May 6 in the Italian city of Padua (the birthplace of Palladio).

At the close of the first day of the symposium, Ackerman was inducted as an honorary citizen of Padua in the richly decorated 14th century hall of the Palazzo della Ragione, and presented with the golden key to the city in recognition of the influence of his 1966 book on the architect and subsequent studies.

CHA’S KEEFE RECEIVES LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

Cambridge Health Alliance (CHA) chief executive officer Dennis D. Keefe has been honored with a lifetime achievement award from the Massachusetts-based health care advocacy group Health Care For All. Keefe was recognized for his efforts to improve access to medical care and accepted the award at Health Care For All’s 23rd annual “Celebration of Health Care Leaders,” held recently at the Westin Copley Place in Boston.

Keefe is the commissioner of public health for the city of Cambridge. He has worked in academic teaching facilities and community hospitals for over 30 years. He joined CHA, a teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical School and Harvard School of Public Health, in 2000. The alliance provides high-quality care in Cambridge, Somerville, and Boston’s metro-north communities.

GOMES TO FETE ORDINATION ANNIVERSARY

The 40th anniversary of the ordination to the Christian ministry of the Rev. Professor Peter J. Gomes, Plummer Professor of Christian Morals and Pusey Minister in the Memorial Church, will be celebrated twice on June 1. Members of the Harvard community are invited to attend either or both services. The first will be held in the Memorial Church at 11 a.m., and the second will be held at the First Baptist Church in Plymouth, Mass., at 4 p.m., with a reception to follow in the Pilgrim Hall Museum.

A specially commissioned choral work by composer Carson P. Cooman, based on Romans 12:1-2, will have its world premiere during the afternoon service, and will be performed by the combined choirs of the Memorial Church and the First Baptist Church. For directions to the First Baptist Church, visit http://www.fbc-plymouth.org.

– Compiled by Andrew Brooks