Harvard Magazine
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Cryptic PuzzlesSolve the March-April 2008 puzzle! Hints available soon. |
Breaking NewsSeptember 3, 2008Harvard Basketball Program ExoneratedAn inquiry by the Ivy League into allegations of improper recruiting and lowering of academic standards by the Harvard men’s basketball program has determined that no violations of either NCAA or Ivy League rules occurred. More >> August 27, 2008A Startling Achievement in Regenerative MedicineDouglas Melton, co-director of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute, has figured out how to transform one type of cell in a living animal into another, using a new process his research team has dubbed “direct reprogramming.” More >> August 15, 2008SEAS Interim Dean AppointedMaterials scientist Frans Spaepen will serve as interim dean of the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) starting September 15, Michael J. Smith, dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, announced today. More >> August 8, 2008Harvard Scientists Create First Disease-Specific Human Stem Cell LinesTwo teams of researchers within the Harvard Stem Cell Institute (HSCI) announced in the last week that they have created disease-specific stem-cell lines using adult cells from human patients. More >> August 7, 2008XDR-TB Can Be Treated“It’s essential that the world know that XDR-TB is not a death sentence,” says Carole Mitnick, a Harvard Medical School instructor in global health and social medicine and lead author of a study published in the August 7 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. More >> July 29, 2008Frenk Appointed Dean of School of Public HealthJulio Frenk has been appointed dean of the Harvard School of Public Health, effective in January 2009. More >> July 15, 2008Faust Appoints VP for Government, Community, and Public AffairsPresident Drew Faust appointed Christine Heenan, founder and president of Clarendon Group, a Providence, Rhode Island-based public and government relations firm, as Harvard’s new vice president for government, community, and public affairs, effective October 1. More >> July 8, 2008University Vows to Cut Greenhouse GasesHarvard aims to cut its greenhouse-gas emissions by 30 percent in the next eight years, President Drew Faust announced today. The University had already committed to ambitious environmental goals for the new Allston campus, but this is the first University-wide greenhouse-gas emissions pledge. In making the pledge, Faust endorsed the recommendations of a task force (chaired by Brooks professor of international science, public policy, and human development William C. Clark) which she appointed in February to consider the issue. Using the University’s 2006 emissions—282,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (MTCDE)—as a baseline, a 30-percent reduction would mean bringing emissions below 200,000 MTCDE’s by 2016. More >> July 8, 2008Bioengineering Report Released“Bioengineering is the natural next step in the intellectual development of biology, medicine, and engineering….” So began the final report of a University committee charged with developing a plan to establish a joint program in bioengineering between Harvard Medical School and the newly established Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. Citing two of the greatest prospective challenges of the twenty-first century—promoting human health and the health of the planet—the report emphasized that “the future presents unprecedented opportunities in the area of bioengineering, which could lead to enormous advances of potential societal and economic value.” Among the report’s major recommendations are the hiring of a minimum of 20 new faculty members in the joint field (with a critical mass to be located in the new science building now under construction in Allston) and the creation of undergraduate and graduate curricula in bioengineering. The schools of business, law, and public health and other Harvard affiliates are also expected to become involved in this burgeoning field. The report, which has not yet been approved, lays out a clear timeline for progress in the field, starting with an international search, beginning this September, for a new director of the Harvard University Bioengineering (HUB) program. By September 2009, the committee hopes Harvard will have established a Ph.D. program and begun recruitment of faculty members scheduled to arrive in the fall of 2010, coincident with the launch of an undergraduate curriculum and the enrollment of the first class of doctoral candidates. (For background, see “On the University’s Agenda,” in the current July-August issue.) The full report may be read at: http://hms.harvard.edu/public/strategy/Bioengineer.pdf July 1, 2008Benefactor Katherine Loker Dies at 92Update: official University statement Katherine B. Loker, whose gifts to Harvard underwrote the renovation of the Widener Library main reading room and the transformation of the Memorial Hall basement into a student-activity space—both named in her honor—died June 26 at her home in Oceanside, California. According to news accounts, the cause of death was complications from a stroke. Loker, an alumna of the University of Southern California, and her late husband Donald P. Loker ‘25, who died 1988, were generous supporters of USC, Harvard, and other institutions, including the Richard Nixon Library & Museum. The Harvard project supported by Katherine Loker that passersby may most readily recognize is the restored top of the Memorial Hall tower. She was saluted with the Harvard Medal in 1996 and with an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree at Commencement in June 2000—as reported in the issue of Harvard Magazine that reported on the conclusion of the University Campaign, and featured the refurbished Memorial Hall on the cover. The citation for her honorary degree read, “Creating a commons for students, envisioning a haven for readers, rebuilding the capstone of a campus landmark, she lifts our sights skyward with energetic aspiration and towering generosity.” Harvard Magazine has previously published accounts of Katherine Loker’s support for the Widener renovation from inception to completion and the Memorial Hall restoration, from planning to construction. Detailed obituary notices appeared in several local newspapers, including the Palos Verdes Peninsula News and the Los Angeles Times. The Harvard University Gazette published an account of her Harvard Medal when it was presented by President Neil L. Rudenstine. |
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