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November-December 2007
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Brevia2+2 = M.B.A.Harvard Business School (HBS) has launched a deferred-admissions program for future M.B.A. candidates, aiming to attract liberal-arts majors in science, government, or other fields who might not have considered such a degree. Undergraduates will be able to apply by July 1, following completion of the junior year (with admission decisions by September), for enrollment after their graduation and two years of approved work experience. Google, Teach for America, and other recruiting partners will provide supervised jobs, helping HBS assure that the future students receive appropriate placements; they will also participate in summer academic programs on campus. HBS envisions its “2+2” enrollees accounting for 5 to 10 percent of entering class members, who number about 900 (most of whom arrive after more extended work). The initiative is like those adopted by some other business schools; it may help attract students with more diverse backgrounds and academic training—a growing priority for many employers. Applications to HBS for the M.B.A. totaled 10,382 in 2002, but declined thereafter to 6,559 in 2005 and 6,716 in 2006, according to the school’s latest annual report. Baker Re-Belled
Photograph by Neal Hamberg / Harvard Business School Eighteen pre-Russian Revolution bells are being returned from Harvard to St. Danilov Monastery, spiritual home of the Russian Orthodox Church, in exhange for replicas. Patriarch Alexy II consecrated the replicas in Moscow on July 24. The swap began on August 15 with the installation of a “Centennial Bell” at Harvard Business School’s Baker Library. The new bell, cast in southwestern Russia, commemorates the school’s founding in 1908, and features images of the library, the monastery, and a Fabergé egg nestled in ivy. The original bell returned to Russia on September 12. The bells were purchased in 1930 by U.S. millionaire Charles Crane to save them from being melted down for ammunition, and donated for installation at Baker and in Lowell House’s bell tower; those 17 bells are to be exchanged next summer (see The College Pump, November-December 2006, page 88). Russian oil magnate Viktor Vekselberg is underwriting the work. …Another DeanshipFord professor of human evolution David Pilbeam—last seen as interim dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) in the spring, when Jeremy R. Knowles stepped aside for health reasons—will now serve as dean of Harvard College, on an interim basis. He succeeds Benedict H. Gross, whose service ended August 31 (see "Brevia," September-October, page 69). Pilbeam has previously assumed responsibilities involving undergraduate education, reform of the general-education curriculum, and oversight of the concentrations. FAS dean Michael D. Smith announced the appointment in mid August; he is convening faculty and student committees to advise on the search for a permanent College leader. Research Revamped
Photograph courtesy of Edward M. Scolnick Edward M. Scolnick Seeking to progress beyond traditional means of tackling hard problems, the National Institutes of Health funded nine interdisciplinary research consortia; each will receive $21 million to $25 million during the next five years. Two are based within Harvard Medical School and its affiliated hospitals: the systems-based consortium for organ design and engineering, directed by professor of medicine Richard L. Maas, which aims to grow heart valves and pancreas and tooth tissue; and the genomic-based drug discovery effort, directed by senior lecturer on genetics Edward M. Scolnick, director of the psychiatry initiative at the Broad Institute. Each consortium is intended to break down the departmental boundaries that persist even in multidisciplinary research projects. 1 | 2 | continued >  
 
 
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