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January 20, 2000Radcliffe Professorship EstablishedTerrence Murray, a 1962 graduate of Harvard College, has donated one of the largest gifts in Radcliffe history to establish the first professorship of the new Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study. Named in honor of his wife, Radcliffe alumna Suzanne Murray, the new professorship will be endowed by a $1.5 million gift from Murray and $1.5 million in matching funds from Harvard University. Young Scholars Find Challenges, Acceptance at Extension School Extension School students David Colt and Amos Lichtman strolled into Sever Hall on their way to their College Algebra class. A little early, they plunked themselves down on the wooden benches in the hallway to compare their answers to the homework assignment. Wearing jeans, running shoes, and T-shirts, they were dressed like most other Extension students. So why did their fellow students momentarily stop what they were doing and glance at David and Amos? 2000-01 Fellowships at the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs The Weatherhead Center for International Affairs has announced the following opportunities for fellowships during the 2000-01 academic year: For the Love of the Race When Alexis Todor was 10 years old, she experienced her first serious clash with authority: the principal of her elementary school reprimanded her for not throwing away her lunch (she avows it was an accident) and assigned her to garbage duty for the following day. This punishment meant picking up lunch trash in a large amphitheater before a jury of her young peers. A distraught Todor left school that day in dread of her imminent humiliation. But her mother had a brilliant idea: invite your friends to clean up with you, pretend you are the seven dwarves, and whistle while you work. This deft bit of parental advice had a lasting impact on Todor (and she and her friends had a great time during garbage duty the next day). Karl Strauch, High Energy Physicist, Dies at 77 Karl Strauch, a leading high energy physicist, and professor emeritus of physics at Harvard University, died at Beth Israel Medical Center in Boston on January 3, 2000. He was 77 years old and lived in Lexington, Mass. Smith To Conclude Service With Harvard Corporation Richard A. Smith, a member of the Harvard Corporation since 1991, will conclude his service as a Fellow of Harvard College at the end of the 1999-2000 academic year. Police Log The following are some of the incidents reported to the HUPD for the week ending Jan. 15. The official log is located at Police Headquarters, 29 Garden St. Phillips Brooks House To Celebrate Centennial The Phillips Brooks House Association Inc. (PBHA), the oldest and largest volunteer public service organization at Harvard College, is rededicating its home, the historic Phillips Brooks House, on the centennial of its original dedication, Sunday, Jan. 23, 2000. Ocean Weather Prediction System Developed Oceanographer Allan Robinson stared at the front page of the newspaper showing where EgyptAir Flight 990 had plunged into the sea with 217 people aboard. He focused on a map illustrating a search for bodies and floating debris that was going on to the east of the crash site. Notes Newsmakers Mondrian Painting Is First for Busch-Reisinger The Busch-Reisinger Museum has acquired its first painting by one of the century’s greatest masters of geometric abstraction, Piet Mondrian (Dutch, 1872-1944). Composition with Blue, Black, Yellow and Red (1922) is an exceptionally well-preserved example of the artist’s "classic" period, clearly showing Mondrian’s painterly sensibility – shiny black lines and delicately brushed fields, subtle gray hues and bold primaries, and careful adjustment of lines and planes as they reach the painting’s edge. Marilyn Monroe's Books Donated to Schlesinger Library Five books owned by American film icon Marilyn Monroe have been anonymously donated to the Schlesinger Library at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study. Purchased in October at Christie’s auction house in New York, the books will be on display at the library throughout the month of January. Librarian Finds Treasure in the Stacks A librarian’s mundane afternoon in the Widener Library stacks and a subsequent sleepless night have thrust Harvard into the limelight throughout the Spanish-speaking literary world. Online Reference Shelf Will Put Historical Data at Your Fingertips When researchers seek historical information about Harvard or Radcliffe, or even about the history of higher education in the United States, they often turn to primary sources in the Harvard and Radcliffe Archives. Most often, the quest begins with a browse through the many volumes of annual reports of the Harvard and Radcliffe presidents. Landscape Architecture Establishes Hornbeck Chair The Graduate School of Design (GSD) has received a $1.7 million gift to establish the Peter Louis Hornbeck Fund supporting the Department of Landscape Architecture. Made through the bequest of Peter L. Hornbeck, a graduate of the Department (MLA ’59), the fund will endow the Hornbeck Professor-in-Practice of Landscape Architecture, as well as support research, exhibitions, and visiting practitioners and scholars in the Department. Studies: 'High Stakes' Tests Are Counterproductive Economically Disadvantaged Students So-called "high stakes" testing policies that require students to pass standardized tests deepen educational inequity between whites and minorities and widen the educational gap between affluent and impoverished students, according to two studies of education reform in Texas. The studies, commissioned by the Civil Rights Project at Harvard University, were presented at a policy briefing in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 7, 2000. Winter Blooms As the elevator reaches the sixth floor of the Biological Laboratories building, it shudders, grinds, and opens up to the bright sunlight that fills the Biolab’s greenhouses. Through the glass, Harvard’s campus spreads out on all sides, but the lush jungle of plants inside the greenhouse is equally captivating. On the first of a series of benches sits a collection of fig trees from all over the world. Nearby stand smooth-trunked, leafless baobab trees from Madagascar, Africa, and Australia. FAS Names Two To Dean Positions Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences Jeremy R. Knowles has announced the appointment of two new deans to oversee undergraduate and graduate education. Faculty Council Jan. 12 At its seventh meeting of the year the Faculty Council met with the Vice President for Finance, Elizabeth Huidekoper, to review the implementation of Project ADAPT in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. Present for this discussion were Dan Moriarty, Assistant Provost and Chief Information Officer for the University; Sara Oseasohn, Acting Director of Project ADAPT; and Paul Bakstran, Controller. Little Named Director of Center for the Study of Values in Public Life David Little, T.J. Dermot Dunphy Professor of the Practice in Religion, Ethnicity, and International Conflict at the Divinity School, has been named director of the School’s Center for the Study of Values in Public Life, effective immediately. Dede To Join GSE Faculty Chris Dede, an expert in technology and education, will join the faculty of the Harvard Graduate School of Education as a full professor in August 2000. Presidential Debates Get Attention, Not Enthusiasm The recent rash of presidential primary debates has spawned news coverage that has caught the public’s attention, but the debates have failed to generate deep voter interest or excitement, according to recent polls by the Joan Shorenstein Center for Press, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. Healthy Lifestyles, Regular Screenings Would Cut U.S. Colon Cancer Morbidity in Half The bad news: colon cancer is a killer. The disease is responsible for approximately 48,000 deaths in the United States each year, making it the second leading cause of cancer death in the country. Determining Your Risk for Cancer The first Web site in the country where you can get a personalized estimate of your risk for various cancers, together with advice on how to lower that risk, is now available to everyone for free.
Copyright 1999 President and Fellows of Harvard College |