Campus & Community

Four scientists from across Harvard will receive nearly $8 million in grant funding through the National Institutes of Health’s High Risk-High Reward program to support research into a variety of biomedical questions, ranging from how the bacterial cell wall is constructed to how the blood-brain barrier works.

The dedication of the Griffin Financial Aid Office was held Thursday. The new name of the office honors Ken Griffin ’89, who in February made a gift of $150 million to the University, principally supporting need-based financial aid for undergraduates.

Ten Harvard Presidential Public Service Fellows who spent the summer scattered across the country working to help others. In an annual luncheon with President Drew Faust, the fellows shared their experiences.

In a question-and-answer session, Harvard Kennedy School Dean David T. Ellwood, whose 11 years in that position will conclude next spring, discusses how the School changed during his tenure, how it is evolving, and what comes next for him.

In the deathly hallows of the MAC Quad, the Harvard Quidditch team practices in the rain — tumbling through the mud while riding atop PVC broomsticks. Quidditch, the only coed…

For decades, WHRB’s radio show “Hillbilly at Harvard” has tracked old-time and country-flavored music, developing a deep and loyal following.

Cherry A. Murray, Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, National Medal of Technology and Innovation, White House

Harvard College students hit the open road this summer to help pave the way for wheelchair travelers.

Vice President for Public Affairs and Communications Christine Heenan, who pushed Harvard communications fully into the digital age and led government and community affairs through federal budget cutbacks, the reboot of Harvard’s Allston relations, and other challenges, will step down as vice president in February, the University announced.

The W.E.B. Du Bois Medal was awarded to seven recipients, who were recognized for their outstanding contributions to African-American culture. The special ceremony concluded with a ribbon-cutting for the Ethelbert Cooper Gallery of African and African American Art at the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research.

Two groups of Harvard scientists will be among the first researchers nationwide to receive grant funding through the BRAIN (Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies) Initiative launched last year by President Obama.

President Drew Faust and Lizabeth Cohen, dean of the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, are celebrating a $12.5 million fund to enhance the creative arts at Harvard, it was announced today. As part of the fund, Maryellie Kulukundis Johnson ’57 and Rupert H. Johnson Jr. contributed a $10 million gift on behalf of their family.

The massive, complex Harvard Depository provides almost instant access to vast stores of knowledge.

Murat Ülker, a leading entrepreneur in Istanbul, has contributed $24 million on behalf of the Ülker family to the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health to establish the Sabri Ülker Center for Nutrient, Genetic, and Metabolic Research.

A freshman peers into the dawn of Harvard, as he works on the Indian College excavation site.

Individuals and communities can improve the food system, according to members of the Harvard Law School Food Law and Policy Clinic, which has launched a yearlong, University-wide focus on how to make food distribution more equitable, sustainable, and nutritious. This week kicks off the campaign called Food Better.

Harvard’s i-lab is a safe place for students to take risks and explore potentially commercial ideas, like cricket chips, aerial drone service and repair, or a public service-oriented website to connect voters and officials.

Stephen Blyth will become the next president and chief executive officer of Harvard Management Company, Harvard University announced today.

Harvard’s copyright “first responders” program has equipped a group of University librarians with the knowledge to help library users navigate the tricky field of copyright law.

Harvard University announced today that its endowment posted a 15.4 percent return and was valued at $36.4 billion for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2014. The fiscal year 2014 endowment return was 82 basis points in excess of the 14.6 percent return on the benchmark Policy Portfolio.

The 11th annual Brian J. Honan 5K Run/Walk in Allston-Brighton on Sept. 20 brought together people from both sides of the Charles, including 600 Harvard runners.

In recognition of the long, sustained support of Paul B. Edgerley, M.B.A. ’83, and Sandra Matejic Edgerley ’84, M.B.A. ’89, the Faculty of Arts and Sciences deanship will be named in honor of the Edgerley family. This is the first of Harvard’s deanships to be named.

Harvard University’s early buildings hugged the ground; after two centuries, the campus began to soar.

The glass-and-steel roof, the calling card of Pritzker Prize-winning Italian architect Renzo Piano, caps the expanded and renovated Harvard Art Museums and is the building’s defining feature.

Professor of Mathematics Jacob Lurie, whose work has helped to transform algebraic geometry to derived algebraic geometry and made it applicable to other areas in new ways, has been named a MacArthur fellow.

President Drew Faust discussed challenges facing Harvard at the start of a new academic year in a conversation with journalist Nicholas Kristof at Sanders Theatre.

Leverett House’s McKinlock Hall re-opened to students at the beginning of the academic year after 15 months of reconstruction. McKinlock is the second completed project in the House renewal initiative, which is one of the largest and most ambitious capital improvement campaigns in Harvard College history and a major campaign priority.

“Elements of Architecture” was reprised in Cambridge as Harvard Professor Rem Koolhaas expounded on the exhibit during a lecture that kicked off the Harvard Graduate School of Design’s “The Grounded Visionaries” weekend (Sept. 12-14).

The Harvard Program in Therapeutic Science has received $30 million in grant funding over the five years from three U.S. government agencies to launch its new research activities, Harvard Medical School announced on Sept. 11.

During the first few days of each semester, Harvard offers “shopping week,” in which students try out a class before formally registering.