Featured series 
Year: 2012
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Health
Life lessons from an old worm
Research is uncovering the genetic roots of aging, peeling back the once common understanding that creatures simply “wore out” as they aged, and slowly revealing the mechanisms that control a process determined by our genes and that proceeds at different speeds for different species.
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Campus & Community
Into local libraries, and into lives
The John Harvard Book Celebration program included the donation of more than 400 books to libraries, 17 lectures by Harvard faculty and members of Harvard’s Board of Overseers at local libraries, and 18 programs for children and youth. The programming reached more than 200 children and youth in the Greater Boston area this spring, concluding…
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Campus & Community
Former Finland prime minister headed to Harvard
Esko Aho, former prime minister of Finland, has been appointed a senior fellow at the Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government.
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Campus & Community
HLS dean elected to MacArthur board
Harvard Law School Dean Martha Minow has been elected to serve on the MacArthur Foundation board of directors.
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Science & Tech
A new master’s program
Harvard will offer a master’s degree in computational science and engineering.
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Science & Tech
Straight to the source
As described in an April 23 paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), graduate students Eric Morrow and Carling Hay demonstrate the use of a statistical tool called a Kalman smoother to identify “sea level fingerprints” — telltale variations in sea level rise — in a synthetic data set. Using those…
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Health
Signs of progress against PTSD
A decade after the start of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, studies have shown that the incidence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among troops is surprisingly low, and a Harvard researcher credits the drop, in part, to new efforts by the Army to prevent PTSD, and to ensure that those who develop the disorder…
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Science & Tech
Meticulous design
A recent SEAS workshop emphasized comprehensive planning, cultural awareness, and a holistic approach to design in developing solutions to global problems.
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Science & Tech
Using DNA as bricks and mortar
Researchers at Harvard’s Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering have figured out how to use short lengths of DNA as physical, rather than genetic, building blocks, creating letters and other shapes from the molecules in a proof of design that could one day lead to the creation of structures that, among other things, deliver drugs…
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Campus & Community
Fletcher Awards announced
The Committee on Regional Studies — East Asia (RSEA) announced the recipients of the 2012 Joseph Fletcher Memorial Awards.
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Campus & Community
High drama
In a talk at the Boston Public Library’s Honan-Allston Branch, the final event in the John Harvard Book Celebration, Linda Greenhouse ’68 said President Obama’s health care law is constitutional and should stand.
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Science & Tech
The last dance between Venus and the sun
Before 2004, the most recent Venus transit occurred more than a century ago, in 1882, and was used to compute the distance from the Earth to the sun. On June 5, 2012, another Venus transit will occur. Scientists with NASA’s Kepler mission hope to discover Earth-like planets outside our solar system by searching for transits…
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Campus & Community
Disorder in the American courts
In a luncheon address, retired jurist Margaret Marshall, the 2012 Radcliffe Medalist, cautioned that money-mad judicial races may be tipping the scales of justice.
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Campus & Community
An enterprising mind
Fresh off his own failed venture, Andrew Rosenthal still wanted to build things. At Harvard Business School, he helped to build a bridge between startup-minded students and the broader community.
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Nation & World
Fareed Zakaria Commencement 2012 Speech
Fareed Zakaria, a Harvard alumnus whose insights into the power shifts setting the stage for a new global era have made him a celebrated thought leader on international affairs, was the principal speaker at the Afternoon Exercises of Harvard’s 361st Commencement.
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Arts & Culture
Jasper Johns, and a technique he loved
A new exhibition at the Arthur M. Sackler Museum profiling the print-inspired works of contemporary artist Jasper Johns was put together with the help of four Harvard undergraduates.
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Campus & Community
Organizing for health care
Pedrag Stojicic, who is graduating from the Harvard School of Public Health, plans to apply his passion for organizing to problems in his Serbian homeland, including HIV/AIDS and physician corruption.
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Campus & Community
Driving toward the future
In four years at Harvard College, hard work and determination have propelled Patrick Staropoli to a 3.94 grade point average and earned him a place in Phi Beta Kappa. But when folks in Staropoli’s home state of Florida talk about his drive, they’re usually referring to the fact that he races super late-model series stock…
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Campus & Community
Bridging the doctor-patient divide
Graduating Harvard Medical School student Katherine Johnson hopes to bridge barriers between doctors and patients by using her skills in the community as she begins her residency.
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Campus & Community
Family values, in an orphanage
Sonya Soni always felt called to serve the Indian orphanage that her family has run for four generations. Two years at Harvard Divinity School challenged her to rethink what the struggling community needs most.
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Campus & Community
Daring to be a doer
Clara Long, who has worked many jobs in many lands, plans to use her new Harvard Law Degree to help ensure the rights of others.
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Campus & Community
Building community, one note at a time
Now 59, Gregg Moore is set to receive a master’s from the Graduate School of Education, which he plans to use to foster community arts programs, with an emphasis on music education, as a way to bring disparate groups together. It’s an idea inspired by his career as a professional tubist in Europe, where he…
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Campus & Community
Celebrating Commencement 2012
All over campus, graduates toasted their hard work and great accomplishment on this perfect New England day as they also looked toward the hope of what tomorrow will bring.
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Campus & Community
Zakaria offers parting words
Delivering Harvard’s Commencement address, journalist Fareed Zakaria told members of the Class of 2012 to trust themselves as they journey into a world that is more peaceful and contains more opportunities than ever before.
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Campus & Community
Board of Overseers election results
The president of the Harvard Alumni Association (HAA) announced the results of the annual election of new members of the Harvard Board of Overseers. The elected directors of the HAA were also announced on May 24.
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Campus & Community
After graduation, reflection
Harvard’s 361st Commencement continued well into the later afternoon, with graduates, alums, family, friends, and faculty joining in the festivities.
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Campus & Community
Harvard Medalists 2012
The Harvard Alumni Association (HAA) has named Charles W. Collier, Ellen R. and Melvin J. Gordon, Harry L. Parker, and Susan S. Wallach the recipients of the 2012 Harvard Medal.
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Campus & Community
Another degree, and a passion realized
Catherine Musinsky, an Extension School graduate, used a serious illness to inspire her artistry, creating a documentary and moving on to study movement.
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Campus & Community
Text of Zakaria’s Commencement address
Commencement address by Fareed Zakaria on May 24, 2012.
