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Economist John Kenneth Galbraith was awarded the nation’s highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, at a ceremony, August 9, at the White House.

With land in Cambridge at a premium, Harvard University is looking southward to meet its long-term needs for additional space. The Massachusetts Turnpike Authority (MTA) Board on Wednesday, July 12 voted unanimously to select Harvard as the highest responsible bidder to purchase a 48-acre parcel in Allston. The bids were opened at the MTA offices…

The Overseas Program Office has been established at Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government to facilitate the administration of international projects at the School. The Office has primary responsibility for administration and logistics of overseas projects and will work in close collaboration with the research centers and support offices at the Kennedy School. In…

Insulin is like gold to a diabetic, and researchers at Harvard Medical School have found a new way to mine it. The hormone is essential for converting sugar in food into energy; without regular injections of it, people suffering from Type 1, or juvenile, diabetes can lapse into a coma and die. Medical scientists have…

Harvard Divinity student Alyssa May leaned over Claire’s bed, joking with the older woman about dancing and horseback riding. Claire, looking small and frail under the covers of her high, railed bed, joked back, her soft voice difficult to hear. The two talked for a while, Claire saying how surprised she is at the people…

Harvard honored 220 Central Administration staffers in June, naming them Harvard Heroes for leadership, teamwork, adaptability, and work that exceeds expectations. This year’s Heroes were honored in a June 14 ceremony that was attended by the vice presidents and directors of their departments and by President Neil L. Rudenstine, who read a short note of…

Harvard has received an award recognizing the excellence of its environmental programs as well as its record of complying with environmental regulations. The award is presented annually by the Environmental Business Council of New England (EBC), a trade association with representation from industry, consulting firms, government agencies, and some universities. “It’s very nice to be…

As Tom Everett mounts the podium and surveys the room, his commanding presence attracts the gaze of more than 100 attentive and anxious musicians awaiting his direction. It is a summertime Wednesday evening. The setting is the elegant Lowell Lecture Hall, and the players are members of the Harvard Summer School Pops Band. This is…

The newly renovated Sert Gallery opened last month providing increased gallery space for modern and contemporary art at the Harvard University Art Museums. Sert is the result of collaboration between the Art Museums and the Department of Visual and Environmental Studies (VES). Both the Gallery and VES are adjacent to the Fogg and Busch-Reisinger Museums,…

Some Boston residents awoke last Thursday to warnings that a particularly vicious African insect had invaded their neighborhoods. Fliers affixed to utility polls and slipped under windshield wipers announced an “Infestation Warning” and featured a large picture of an unsavory-looking bug. And before School of Public Health entomologist Richard Pollack could settle down to work…

What do Harvard professors read over the summer? Are the physicists reading poetry and the literature professors reading algebra? Are they reading at all, or do books lie spine-up on the floor, where their owners last hurled them, while fishing rods and gardening trowels and chopping boards get far more use? We asked a few…

President Neil L. Rudenstine announced the appointment of a committee of scholars and academics from outside Radcliffe and Harvard to assist in the process of long-term planning for the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study. Following is the letter announcing the committee and a listing of its members. July 5, 2000 Dear Members of the Radcliffe…

Anthony D’Amico faced a tricky problem. How to place 100 radioactive seeds, each smaller than a rice grain, into tumors inside a walnut-size prostate gland. Properly placed, the seeds destroy cancer cells. Implanting the seeds – called brachytherapy – offers a way to treat early stages of prostate cancer in a way that, for some…

The Harvard Corporation has announced the start of the search for a successor to President Neil L. Rudenstine, who recently announced his intention to conclude his service at the close of the 2000-01 academic year, after a decade in office. Under the University charter, a new President is elected by the Corporation, with the counsel…

Following are some of the incidents reported to the Harvard University Police Department (HUPD) for the weeks ending June 17, June 24, July 1, and July 8. The official log is located at Police Headquarters, 29 Garden St. June 11: Several items were reported missing from a room in Mather House. June 12: A bicycle…

Pollution study captures Fisher Prize Diane Hart Barnes, a doctoral candidate in the department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, is the recipient of the Howard T. Fisher Prize in Geographical Information Science (GIS), Harvard University, for the academic year 1999-00. Barnes received the award for her work titled “Urban/Industrial Pollution for the New York City-Washington,…

Masatoshi Nagatomi, professor of Buddhist Studies emeritus in the Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations, died on June 3, 2000. A private funeral service was held on June 17. A fall memorial is being planned. In lieu of flowers, the family has asked that contributions be made to the Buddhist Studies Forum c/o the…

In a move that taps its faculty’s depth and breadth of expertise to expand academic inquiry into complementary medicine, Harvard Medical School (HMS) has established the Division for Research and Education in Complementary and Integrative Medical Therapies. David M. Eisenberg, director of the Center for Alternative Medicine Research and Education at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical…

Edward Grazda has been taking pictures in Afghanistan since 1980, shortly after the Soviets invaded the country. He had been in India, but news of the conflict drew him northward until he found himself in Peshawar, the border town on the Pakistan side of the Khyber pass. It was there that he got to know…

A 15-minute mental test shows promise for identifying people 65 years and older who are most likely to die in the next two years, according to a study at the Harvard School of Public Health. Given on a regular basis, the test reveals deterioration of such cognitive functions as memory and orientation. “Our study shows…

The growing season is upon us, and like everything around it, Harvard is going to be getting a bit bigger during the summer months. A variety of projects are on the construction calendar, from new Life Sciences and Business School buildings to a major renovation of University Hall. Many projects were begun immediately after Commencement…

Cambridge School Volunteers, Inc., recently presented the 1999-00 Mack Davis Award to eight volunteers for their outstanding service to Cambridge public schools. The award is named for the late Mack I. Davis II, a Harvard administrator with an “extraordinary record of public service.” The winners and their volunteer placements are (left to right): Jacqueline Cressey,…

Presiding over the classroom, Kevin Fuller, Ed.M. ’00, looks like a missionary – a free-spirited, high-stye preacher, dressed in a long, raspberry, collarless jacket, pressed black dress shirt and pants, and polished black shoes. High noon’s sun nudges the window shades at Brighton High School as Fuller rises from behind the teacher’s desk, where he…