Campus & Community

A new class at Harvard’s Graduate School of Design, “Design Competitions,” used the academic setting this semester to look at a competitive activity familiar (and exhausting) to architects and planners worldwide.

The vast majority of Harvard faculty report that they are satisfied with their positions here, according to the latest Faculty Climate Survey released today by the Office for Faculty Development and Diversity.

Harvard Professor Laura Nasrallah encouraged a crowd at the Harvard Allston Education Portal to consider the historical letters of Christian texts — an effort she explores in her HarvardX course “Letters of Paul.”

The Minerva Academy on Tuesday named Eric Mazur the first winner of the Minerva Prize for Advancements in Higher Education.

Interview with Professor Melissa Franklin as part of the Experience series.

On May 14 the members of the Faculty Council met in camera to discuss a student disciplinary case.

As part of the traditional daylong May Day celebration, a poetry reading by the Lowell House Poemical Society took place May 1 at Lowell House, with festivities also featuring an early morning waltz on the Weeks Bridge, a bacchanal, and a recital with the historic Lowell House bells.

President Drew Faust will award Harvard Medals to three alumni during the Annual Meeting of the Harvard Alumni Association on Commencement Day, May 29. Recipients include Anand G. Mahindra ’77, M.B.A. ’81, J. Louis Newell ’57, and Emily Rauh Pulitzer, A.M. ’63.

Thérèse Wilson, a chemist at Harvard for more than five decades and an expert in chemiluminescence and bioluminescence, died peacefully in Cambridge on April 28.

The Gazette sat down with the new director of Harvard’s Office of Sexual Assault Prevention and Response, Alicia Oeser, to discuss the dual mission of providing support services to those who have experienced sexual assault and offering education and outreach programs to decrease the incidence of sexual assault on campus.

Leadership under fire and decision-making under stress were invoked, praised, and perhaps slightly demystified on Wednesday during an event that brought 600 Harvard alumni a taste of the campus today even as it urged them to consider the Harvard of tomorrow.

Harvard University will invest new resources immediately to expand and strengthen its Office of Sexual Assault Prevention and Response, President Drew Faust announced.

Interview with Professor Walter Willett as part of the Experience series.

Marianne Bergonzi first tried yoga when she was 50 years old. Describing the experience as life-changing, Bergonzi soon began teaching classes. “I knew I had to pass the yogic philosophy on to people who [may] never get a chance to learn the body, mind, and breath connection.”

A gathering on May 5 marked the distribution of grants by the Harvard Allston Partnership Fund, with 11 nonprofits receiving support totaling $100,000.

Meredith Weenick, a seasoned administrator with significant operational experience in the nonprofit and public sectors, has been named vice president for campus services at Harvard University.

VACU Scan, an initiative to boost health care in developing countries, is the winner of the 2014 President’s Challenge.

Nearly 82 percent of the students admitted to the Class of 2018 will matriculate at Harvard College, which would be the highest percentage to attend since slightly more than 83 percent of those admitted to the Class of 1973 came in 1969.

The Harvard Gazette spoke with five members of Harvard’s governing boards, who also serve as co-chairs of the Harvard Campaign, to discuss Harvard’s fundraising effort, the environment in which it is occurring, its priorities, and its meaning to the co-chairs who give their time to execute it.

The Bureau of Study Counsel awarded Keerthi Reddy ’14 and Daniel Wilson ’14 the Joseph L. Barrett Award on May 5.

Successful businesswoman, best-selling author, and Harvard alumna Sheryl Sandberg ’91, M.B.A. ’95, has been chosen as the 2014 Class Day speaker. Sandberg, the chief operating officer of Facebook and founder of LeanIn.org, will address seniors in Tercentenary Theatre on May 28, the day before Harvard’s 363rd Commencement.

At the annual Allston-Brighton Legislators’ Breakfast on May 2, nine area residents were honored by the Allston-Brighton Adult Education Coalition.

Notable spring trends at Harvard are a contrasting mix of minis and knits, lace and leather, floral and boots, and pops of color — but not too much.

Interview with Professor Steven Pinker as part of the Experience series.

Tianhao He ’15, a Mather House sociology concentrator, was named a 2014 Truman Scholar. The annual prize, which recognizes college juniors with an interest in a career in public service, provides up to $30,000 toward graduate school.

The Harvard Women’s Center honored an undergraduate and an innovative entrepreneur during the Women’s Leadership awards. The awards have a legacy of distinguished recipients and recognize “contributions by women that challenge, motivate, and inspire.”

Philip W. Lovejoy, the Harvard Alumni Association’s longtime deputy executive director, will succeed Jack Reardon ’60 as executive director effective July 1.

On April 30 the members of the Faculty Council approved preliminary versions of the University Extension School courses for 2014-15 and Courses of Instruction for 2014-15.

Interview with Professor Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot as part of the Experience series.

The Class of 1959 Chapel at Harvard Business School has served as a peaceful space of solitude and introspection since its completion in 1992.