In recent days, the reporting on the horrific events unfolding in Japan has shifted from the technical response to issues such as the critical role of leadership and resilience in the aftermath of a disaster. What would happen in the U.S. if there was a similar disaster? One Harvard program is working to prepare leaders for…

The concept of the “demographic dividend” pioneered by Harvard School of Public Health faculty member David Bloom and colleagues is featured in Time magazine’s “Ten Ideas That Will Change the World,” published March 17. Bloom, Clarence James Gamble Professor of Economics and Demography and chair of the Department of Global Health and Population, and colleagues…

Every day is Earth Day at Harvard. That’s why during the month of April the Harvard Office for Sustainability will be featuring a Green Tip every day, not just on Earth Day (April 22). Every Monday in April we’ll post the coming week’s five green tips for the Harvard community and beyond. Read them, enjoy…

The conventional definition of the sublime – that which is too large and overwhelming to be accommodated within our restricted consciousness – is one that Emily Dickinson fiercely defied. In Dickinson’s view, the mental sublime, rather than being intimidated by the natural sublime, surpasses it, said Helen Vendler, A. Kingsley Porter University Professor, in a…

Conservators from the University Library’s Weissman Preservation Center and from Conservation Services in the Harvard College Library will offer a preservation “clinic” on Thursday (April 14) from 2 to 4 p.m. in the lobby of Lamont Library. Harvard students, faculty, and staff are invited to bring treasured books, drawings, family documents, photographs, photo albums, comic…

On an early morning in January, eight upper-year Harvard Law School students landed on the lone runway at the sleepy international airport in Lesotho where they were warmly welcomed by officials from the U.S. Embassy and the U.S. government’s Millennium Challenge Corporation (“MCC”), an innovative U.S. government foreign assistance agency. Though still recovering from the…

The Hauser Center for Nonprofit Organizations became the first LEED-certified project at the Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) when it achieved a LEED Silver certification under the LEED for Commercial Interiors (LEED-CI) version 2.0 rating system on Sept. 2, 2010. It is the 35th LEED-certified project at Harvard. The Hauser Center moved into its current location…

Eliza Byard, executive director of the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN), discusses LGBT issues in K-12 education. To listen to the EdCast: http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/how-to-deal-lgbt-issues-in/id393343331?i=92586128

Every day is Earth Day at Harvard. That’s why during the month of April the Harvard Office for Sustainability will be featuring a Green Tip every day, not just on Earth Day, April 22. Every Monday in April we’ll post a story on our website, green.harvard.edu, with the coming week’s five green tips for the…

In conjunction with regional meetings of the National Academy of Engineering (NAE), the Institute of Medicine (IOM), and with the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the dean of the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) will host a symposium on “Privacy, Autonomy, and Personal Genetic Information” on Tuesday, April 14, from 2:30…

The indicators paint a sad and disturbing picture of Zimbabwe. The once thriving “bread basket” of Africa has become politically and economically paralyzed, with a falling GDP, life expectancy of just 44 years, and a per capita income of only US$274 per year. Yet there is also reason for hope, with a new coalition government…

Since the 1950s, scientists and scholars from Harvard University have been building bridges between the United States and Russia to help prevent nuclear catastrophe. The early years focused on slowing the nuclear arms race. The last two decades have targeted the risks of nuclear proliferation and terrorism. Carrying forward this legacy, specialists from Harvard Kennedy…

Ask a typical student who is studying epidemiology what she or he is learning, and the overwhelming answer will refer to a set of methods useful for analyzing the distribution and determinants of population patterns of health. Ask the same student to name the epidemiologic theories of disease distribution that give rise to the hypotheses…

Ten years ago, attention given to HIV/AIDS at a United Nations special session was followed by the establishment of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria. Now, a growing chorus of public health experts is calling for a movement to address the noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) that are collectively responsible for one-quarter of the…

When considering ways to reform the U.S. health care system, the U.S. Congress did not give adequate consideration to a single-payer, state-based like the one being considered by the Vermont State Legislature, Harvard School of Public Health Professor William Hsiao writes in the March 16 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. While the…

The Advanced Leadership Initiative (ALI) wants to know what you think about education, technology, and innovation. As part of its upcoming Education Think Tank, people from outside of Harvard University are invited to join in the conversation about how to make education more relevant. “If we are serious about reinventing education, it is going to…

While hawks have traditionally found a home in a pine tree near Pierce Hall at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS), a nesting pair of hawks decided to switch venues for 2011. The birds constructed a nest atop Maxwell Dworkin, using the building’s iconic curtain wall for support. A team of SEAS…

The Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, recognized 36 government initiatives as Bright Ideas recipients on March 29. This cohort of Bright Ideas addresses a host of pertinent issues including health care, education, performance management, civic engagement, and service delivery, and represents the creative…

Originally built in 1960 as a hotel, Harvard Law School’s (HLS) North Hall has recently earned LEED Gold certification through the LEED for Commercial Interiors (LEED-CI) version 3.0 rating system for its conversion into a 112 room dormitory for students at Harvard Law School. North Hall is Harvard University’s 44th LEED certification and the third…

A team composed of undergraduate students from Harvard, the University of Pennsylvania, and Central Connecticut State University is among 10 U.S.-based software design team finalists for the 2011 Imagine Cup. Dubbed TTHV, the group is composed of Alexander Ryu, University of Pennsylvania; Annemarie Ryu ’13 and Brandon Liu ’14, both of Harvard College; and David…

The Eda Kuhn Loeb Music Library at Harvard University, in collaboration with the Julliard School and the Library of Congress, recently launched the Music Treasures Consortium, a website that provides a single point of access to some of the world’s most valued music manuscript and print materials from six esteemed institutions in the U.S. and…

Growth in India’s economy since 1992 has not ended undernutrition among children in that country and may require the Indian government to directly invest in appropriate health interventions such as food aid, according to a new study by researchers at Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) and the School of Public Health at the University…

Everyday activities such as drinking alcohol or exercising strenuously can raise an individual’s risk of a heart attack, and exposure to more potent triggers such as cocaine can significantly raise risk. But a new study finds that exposure to traffic and air pollution contributes to 12 percent of heart attacks worldwide—the most of any factor.…

Dean Julio Frenk, who served as Mexico’s minister of health from 2000 to 2006, contributed to the Harvard Business Review’s “Innovations in Health Care” blog. As countries from Ghana to the United States grapple with expanding health care coverage for their citizens, policy efforts in Mexico have lessons to offer, he writes. As minister of…

Mark D. Jordan, Richard Reinhold Niebuhr Professor of Divinity at Harvard Divinity School (HDS), has been named one of seven Henry Luce III Fellows in Theology for 2011-12. The announcement was made in February by the Association of Theological Schools. In his year-long Luce project, Jordan plans to write a book on Thomas Aquinas’ teaching…

A delegation of Harvard School of Public Health friends and faculty – including HSPH Dean Julio Frenk and Dean for Academic Affairs David Hunter – visited HSPH programs in Tanzania and Botswana recently, meeting with government officials in both countries and learning more about the School’s longstanding efforts around AIDS and nutrition in East and…

HIV prevalence in Zimbabwe declined by nearly half over the course of a decade (from 29 percent estimated adult prevalence in 1997 to 16 percent in 2007). HSPH’s Daniel Halperin and colleagues explored the causes of this remarkable success story in a paper published online in PLoS Medicine on Feb. 8. The researchers found that…

The Harvard University Graduate School of Design (GSD) and the Harvard Art Museums are pleased to announce an unprecedented three-part exhibition that addresses the converging domains of contemporary art and design practice. Titled The Divine Comedy, this exhibition is comprised of major installations by internationally acclaimed artists Olafur Eliasson, Tomás Saraceno, and Ai Weiwei, and…

Reporter Michael J. Berens of The Seattle Times is winner of the 2010 Worth Bingham Prize for Investigative Journalism for his comprehensive six-part series “Seniors for Sale: Exploiting the aged and frail in Washington’s adult family homes.” During his lengthy investigation, Berens found that thousands of vulnerable elderly adults had been abused, neglected, or exploited…

The U.S. Army invaded the Harvard Decision Science Laboratory one day earlier this month (March 3). A group of 16 cadets served as study subjects to help inform researchers on the ways in which opinions are formed and decisions are made by young military leaders. The session was organized by the lab’s executive director Mark Edington…