Commencement 2016

Take a look back at the 2015-2016 school year at Harvard, in pictures.

Five graduating seniors say farewell to Harvard, reflecting on their experiences in some of their favorite University spaces.

Janet L. Yellen, chair of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the country’s central banking system, accepted the Radcliffe Medal at a luncheon in Radcliffe Yard, and discussed economic concerns.

Photos show the many sides of Harvard’s 2016 Commencement festivities.

In his Commencement address, veteran filmmaker Steven Spielberg urged the members of Harvard’s Class of 2016 to stick to their morals and act when necessary.

Martin J. “Marty” Grasso Jr. ’78 is the new president of the Harvard Alumni Association, taking the reins from Paul L. Choi ’86, J.D. ’89.

The University in 2015-16 saw milestones related to diversity, scientific advances, and the renaming of the John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.

Janet L. Yellen, chair of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, will receive the Radcliffe Medal during Radcliffe Day on May 27.

On a perfect sunny day in Harvard Yard, the University held its 365th Commencement in Tercentenary Theatre, with an emphasis on congratulations, rituals, and, most of all, celebrations.

After switching careers from defense manufacturing to police work, Christos Hatzopoulos embarked on a third challenge: earning a master’s degree in history from the Harvard Extension School.

Doaa Abu Elyounes is a blind Arab-Israeli student who is graduating from HLS with an LL.M. degree.

Today the University awarded a total of 7,727 degrees and 11 certificates. A breakdown of degrees and programs is listed below. Harvard College granted a total of 1,661 degrees. Degrees…

With its development plans approved by the city of Boston, Harvard is moving ahead on its plans to create state-of-the-art facilities for the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and other centers of innovation.

Nine to receive honorary degrees at Harvard’s 365th Commencement.

Between the laughs, actress and writer Rashida Jones ’97 counsels the Class of 2016 to break some rules, speak up, and choose love during the annual Class Day.

Twelve Harvard seniors were formally recognized as officers in the armed forces at the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps commissioning ceremony.

On May 25, the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences awarded the Centennial Medal to four alumni who have made extraordinary contributions to society. The medal, GSAS’s highest honor, was first awarded in 1989 on the 100th anniversary of the School’s founding.

In celebration of the city of Cambridge and of the country’s oldest university, a number of neighboring churches and institutions ring their bells at the conclusion of Harvard’s 365th Commencement Exercises, for the 28th consecutive year.

Navy SEAL veteran Dan Cnossen, severely wounded in Afghanistan, rebounded to graduate from the Kennedy School, and is bound for the Divinity School.

Graduating Harvard seniors gathered in the Memorial Church for a personal farewell and words of wisdom from President Drew Faust during the Baccalaureate Service.

Stephen Greenblatt and Robyn Schiff were the featured speakers at the 2016 Phi Beta Kappa Literary Exercises.

Tommy Tobin, set to graduate with degrees from the Law School and the Kennedy School, hopes to work on food policy.

The Harvard Alumni Association (HAA) announced that Thomas G. Everett, Roger W. Ferguson Jr. ’73, A.M. ’78, J.D. ’79, Ph.D. ’81, John H. McArthur, M.B.A. ’59, D.B.A. ’63, and Betsey Bradley Urschel, Ed.M. ’63, will receive the 2016 Harvard Medal on May 26, during the Afternoon Program at Commencement.

Erica Tukiainen used exercise to transform herself from a chubby kid to a collegiate basketball player. She wants to use lessons learned at the Harvard Chan School to help others add much-needed exercise to their lives.

Back in 1642, at Harvard’s first Commencement, the graduates — all nine of them — each had to deliver orations, defending their theses, in Latin, Greek, or Hebrew. Today, just…

A look at the arts scene at Harvard during the 2015-16 academic year.

Recent graduates and students discuss how a revived ROTC program enriched their Harvard College experience and taught them more than they could have imagined.

Soon to become a Fulbright scholar, Kapena Baptista ’16 finds histories in his heritage, and plans to teach.

The Gazette asked a group of Harvard professors to talk about a book from their student days that has since gained in resonance or meaning.

Rivka B. Hyland ’16, an Islamic Studies concentrator who is proficient in eight languages, will continue her education at Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar this fall.