July-August 2008

First Amendment, slavery’s reach, energy options…

Harvard Business School professor Josh Lerner and coauthors offer a revisionist view of corporate raiders and their Gordon Gekko image after reviewing 5,000 buyouts…

Critic Alex Ross keeps “classical” music current…

Harvard professor Lewis Lockwood and the Julliard String Quartet have collaborated on Inside Beethoven’s Quartets: History, Performance, Interpretation…

Mary Jo Salter keeps her own (and others’) poetry alive…

Correspondence on not-so-famous lost words…

Recent books with Harvard connections…

Enjoy a range of offerings in and around Harvard Square, from swing dancing on the Charles River, a stroll through the Arnold Arboretum, or a tasty picnic of artisanal cheeses and local produce to an evening with Cole Porter, images from Mother Nature, and a film series celebrating America’s Technicolor favorites…

Brief life of a great enigma, the Russian author and political propagandist born Alexei Maksimovich Peshkov: 1868-1936…

In Lesotho, fighting TB and HIV/AIDS…

Ten honorary degrees awarded…

Fed chair Bernanke, J.K. Rowling, and President Faust on how to live well…

Speaking on behalf of the department he chairs, James Engell moved that it shed its current title (English and American literature and language) in favor of a streamlined one (English).

University leaders in various forums outlined Harvard priorities and impending business concerning Allston, a new science initiative, and the University’s international aims.

On April 15, vice president for finance Elizabeth Mora, Harvard’s chief financial officer, “announced her intention to step down” as of mid May.

President Drew Faust on April 28 appointed Higgins professor of natural sciences Barbara J. Grosz to the deanship of the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study (RIAS).

The rising value of endowments belonging to private institutions of higher education is attracting critical political attention—a special challenge for Harvard, whose $34.9-billion endowment is much the largest.

The Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS), in planning a major renovation of the 12 undergraduate residential Houses, has appointed a House Program Planning Committee “to examine the mission and purpose of House life and to develop an architectural space plan for the House system.

Headlines from Harvard history

During spring faculty meetings, dean Michael D. Smith explained his approach to leading the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS), with important implications for the growth of professorial ranks.

President Drew Faust on April 24 appointed a University steering committee to explore improvements to Harvard’s Cambridge campus, with the aim of making better use of existing spaces to foster faculty-student interaction, social life, and artistic and cultural performances.

Short takes on recent news

The Harvard I know today began in the most unlikely of ways: with a cup of tea, served loose-leaf in a ceramic mug, as I sat at a table littered with books and papers, impossibly squeezed between the bookshelves and free-standing chalkboard of a narrow Semitic Museum office.

Ivy league executive director Jeff Orleans to retire

Men of the College class of 1951 share lessons learned while doing their duty.

The names of the newly elected members of the Board of Overseers and directors of the Harvard Alumni Association (HAA) were announced at the association’s annual meeting.

Three people received the Harvard Medal for outstanding service, and were publicly honored by President Drew Faust.

The Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Centennial Medal, first awarded in 1989 on the occasion of the school’s hundredth anniversary, honors alumni who have made contributions to society that emerged from their graduate study at Harvard.

Four seniors have won Harvard Cambridge scholarships to study at Cambridge University during the 2008-2009 academic year.

Why is it, University Treasurer James F. Rothenberg ’68, M.B.A. ’70, asked his Tercentenary Theatre audience on Thursday afternoon, that he regularly hears a “low chuckle” after beginning his report “on the present state of the University’s resources” at the annual HAA meeting?

“From the Closet to a Place at the Table: Celebrating 25 Years of the Harvard Gay & Lesbian Caucus” is the first-ever all-school, all-class reunion for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) alumni, faculty and staff members, and current students.

Five pieces of lead type turned up near Matthews Hall this year, a stop-the-presses flash from the past. They were unearthed by students and faculty of Anthropology 1130: “Archaeology of Harvard Yard.”