John Cowles Professor of Sociology Orlando Patterson was awarded the the honor of the Order of Merit (OM) this month. No more than two persons can be awarded the OM in any given year. According to its website, the OM “may be conferred upon any citizen of Jamaica or distinguished citizen of a country other…

In an effort to combat the discrimination that has intensified with COVID-19, educate children about the origin of the virus, and the precautionary measures necessary to stay safe, the Harvard Undergraduate UNICEF Club (HUNICEF) created an educational coloring book: “Ellie the Elephant.” By following Ellie’s day, children will learn about the origin of the virus,…

Racism in America has been the subject of serious scholarship for decades. In that time, Harvard University Press (HUP) has had the honor of publishing some of the most influential books on the subject. Culled from the HUP’s publications in history, law, sociology, medicine, economics, critical theory, philosophy, art, and literature, “Racism in America: A…

Harvard undergraduates may be learning remotely this fall, but they will have many opportunities to connect with community groups and schools in the Greater Boston area through the Mindich Program in Engaged Scholarship.  Engaged scholarship courses allow students to explore and cultivate community connections through language, film, data analysis, political activism, and community-inspired arts. Instructors…

New research from Harvard’s Growth Lab finds a direct link between a country’s incoming business travel and the growth of new and existing industries. The findings, published in the journal Nature Human Behaviour, support a Growth Lab hypothesis that moving knowhow is critical to economic growth, and business travel plays a key part in that…

The Cooper Gallery of African & African American Art would like to serve as a “living archive” of important ephemera surrounding this moment by collecting protest posters, circulated artist zines, informational pamphlets, and any other printed media/functional artwork that has been produced to respond to our current civil unrest and to facilitate social change. The…

Making Caring Common — a project at the Harvard Graduate School of Education that supports young people’s moral and civic development — has launched a new, nonpartisan voter mobilization and civic education initiative for young voters from across the country. The initiative, called Get Out the Vote, aims to encourage young adults (ages 18–25) to…

The Growth Lab, which works with countries to identify obstacles to growth and propose targeted policy solutions to address them, has been conducting applied research in Albania for the past seven years. Since its work was first featured in the Harvard Gazette in 2014, the Growth Lab team has supported the Albanian government to attain a number of policy…

The American Educational Research Association (AERA) has announced that Howard Gardner is the winner of the 2020 Distinguished Contributions to Research in Education Award for outstanding achievement and success in education research. The honor was announced July 23, as part of AERA’s slate of 2020 awards for excellence in education research. Gardner, the Hobbs Research…

In a period of unprecedented challenges for journalism, Harvard University’s Nieman Foundation has selected an innovative and distinguished group of journalists for its 2020-21 fellowship class and has created new visiting fellowships to address racial justice and public health. Nieman, a center for internationally recognized journalism fellowships, publications and programs, has selected 16 Nieman Fellows…

The Center on the Developing Child announced on July 15 that four doctoral students have been awarded Science and Innovation Fellowships for 2020-2021. Each Fellow will receive a grant to support their independent dissertation research. The Fellowship was created with the aim of creating a new generation of leaders who will leverage science for innovation…

Ron Witte has been appointed as professor in residence of architecture at the Harvard Graduate School of Design (GSD) effective July 1. Witte is currently a visiting professor at GSD and was most recently professor of architecture and Baker Institute Scholar at Rice University.  He has held previous faculty appointments at Princeton, GSD, the University of Kentucky,…

Nine Harvard researchers have received nearly $1 million in fast-tracked funds from the National Science Foundation for seven coronavirus research projects focused on aspects of the pandemic ranging from the virus’ effects on the economy to studying social distancing using social media platforms. The funds come from the NSF’s Rapid Response Research (RAPID) mechanism. The…

The Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative recently announced its fourth class of mayors. Forty mayors from across the U.S. were selected to participate in the program, designed to equip city leaders with the leadership and management tools to tackle complex challenges in their cities and improve the quality of life of their citizens. With mayors playing…

Harvard Management Company (HMC)  announced this week that Eric Doppstadt, vice president and chief investment officer of the Ford Foundation, has been elected to serve on the company’s board of directors. Doppstadt currently manages the Ford Foundation’s $12.6 billion endowment, which allows for more than $500 million in annual charitable gifts. He joined the Ford…

The Carnegie Corporation of New York released its annual list of Great Immigrants, Great Americans this week, honoring 38 naturalized citizens who enrich and strengthen the United States through their lives, their work, and their examples. Two of those honored are Harvard faculty members Sven Beckert and Raj Chetty. Beckert, who was born in Germany,…

The Harvard Innovation Labs announced this week that applications are open for Launch Lab X GEO, a virtual accelerator designed to help Harvard alumni-led ventures grow from pre-seed-stage startups to sustainable, disruptive businesses with real-world impact.  “Since introducing Launch Lab X in 2018, we’ve seen how bringing together alumni-led ventures from diverse industries creates an incredibly vibrant and supportive community that elevates every member of the cohort,” said Matt Segneri, Bruce and Bridgitt Evans Executive Director of the…

On June 24, more than 50 student organizations across Harvard University announced their pledge to register, engage, and turn out 100 percent of voter eligible members ahead of Election Day 2020. The Pledge to 100% comes at a time when the University is taking further steps to build a civic culture and institutionalize full participation…

Just months after opening his first restaurant in Jamaica Plain, Chef Ernie Campbell has expanded his famous Jamaica Mi Hungry restaurant to Allston. The Jamaica Mi Hungry pop-up is now open on the Harvard University-owned property located at 182 Western Ave. in Allston through the end of 2020 as a program of the Zone 3…

Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden announced today that Danielle Allen, director of the Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics and the James Bryant Conant University Professor at Harvard University, will receive the 2020 John W. Kluge Prize for Achievement in the Study of Humanity. Allen will collaborate with the Library on an initiative she has…

During isolation, the Graduate Commons Program (GCP) has had to get creative about the ways in which they maintain connections to students. Before COVID-19 arrived, GCP staff could host upwards of a dozen events each month ranging from networking happy hours to fireside chats with faculty, all to help residents living in Harvard Housing build…

“I’m not someone who can cook for one or two people,” said Akeisha Hayde, executive chef for Residential Dining at Harvard University Dining Services. That’s a true dilemma for a chef who is accustomed to preparing food for thousands of undergraduates a day. So last week, Hayde turned her culinary skills toward feeding some of…

Celebrate the longest day of the year and mark the beginning of summer with the Harvard Museums of Science & Culture (HMSC)! While museums are not open to the public just yet, HMSC is hosting a special livestream on June 20, starting at 10 a.m. to learn about the scientific and cultural significance of the…

The Education Redesign Lab (EdRedesign) at the Harvard Graduate School of Education has announced that the City of Poughkeepsie, NY recently joined a consortium of cities participating in the By All Means initiative.  EdRedesign launched By All Means in 2016 to rethink education and child development systems in partnership with local communities with the goal of…

A public health professor conducting research on COVID-19. An international student attending virtual classes in a different time zone. A staff member still reporting to work on an eerily quiet campus. A group of alumni sharing work from home tips. These are all valuable stories from a pandemic, and the Harvard University Archives wants to…

The Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government (M-RCBG) at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government awarded the 2019 John T. Dunlop Prize in Business and Government to Laura Nicolae ’20. Nicolae was recognized for her thesis, “The Effects of Liquidity Regulation on Bank Demand for Reserves and the Federal Reserve’s Balance Sheet Policy.” She is a…

Christina Cross, a postdoctoral fellow, lecturer, and incoming assistant professor of sociology, received the 2020 Dissertation Award from the American Sociological Association last month. The award recognizes the best doctoral dissertation of the year from entries submitted by scholars’ doctoral advisors or mentors. Cross completed her dissertation, “The Color, Class, and Context of Family Structure…

Recent graduates of the Class of 2020 Catherine Kerner, Cecil Williams II, and Adele Woodmansee received the Taliesin Prize for Distinction in the Art of Learning this week. Kerner concentrated in computer science and philosophy, Williams in folklore & mythology, and Woodmansee had a joint concentration in integrative biology and anthropology. They were recognized by…

The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation has awarded Harvard Professor Amir Yacoby a $1.6 million Emergent Phenomena in Quantum Systems (EPiQS) Initiative grant. The five-year grant will allow Yacoby to explore novel ways of measuring the magnetic properties of quantum matter. Yacoby is among 20 U.S. scientists named Experimental Investigators by the Moore Foundation. This…

This week, the Harvard Art Museums launched a collection of online tours of the special exhibition “Painting Edo: Japanese Art from the Feinberg Collection.” The series is made possible through the Museums’ partnership with the Google Cultural Institute and is available on the Google Arts & Culture platform. The four short, immersive tours showcase stunning…