Three members of the Harvard Business School M.B.A. Class of 2016 — Abdulaziz “Aziz” Albahar, Sara Gentile, and Needham Hurst — have been named recipients of the School’s prestigious Dean’s Award. They will be recognized by HBS Dean Nitin Nohria at Commencement ceremonies on the HBS campus on Thursday, May 26. Established in 1997, this…

After eight years of service the founding faculty directors of Harvard University Housing’s Graduate Commons Program have transitioned out of their leadership roles. Professors Davíd Carrasco and María Luisa Parra (10 Akron Street), along with Professor Jennifer Lerner and Brian Gill (5 Cowperthwaite Street), have been instrumental in the development and growth of Graduate Commons…

Michael Ignatieff, Edward R. Murrow Professor of Practice of the Press, Politics, and Public Policy at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, international commentator on contemporary issues of democracy, human rights, and governance, and a Canadian citizen, has been elected Central European University’s fifth president and rector by the University’s Senate and the…

Women who ate nearly three servings of fruit daily when they were teens had a 25% lower risk of getting breast cancer when they were adults than those who ate half a serving, according to a new study from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. The study drew on data from more than 44,000…

Kevin Birmingham has won the 2016 Truman Capote Award for “The Most Dangerous Book: The Battle for James Joyce’s Ulysses.” The director of the Humanities 10 Writing, and a visiting lecturer this past spring in the English Department, Birmingham is the first author to receive this prestigious award for a first book. “The Most Dangerous…

Two departments within Harvard Campus Services are being recognized for their leadership on sustainability, reflecting the University’s goal to institutionalize best practices in sustainable operations. Harvard’s Fleet Management team has received an Environmental Merit Award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for its use of biodiesel fuel in 75 vehicles, including shuttles. In the past…

James Mitchell, associate professor of genetics and complex diseases, is the 2016 recipient of the Armen H. Tashjian Jr. Award for Excellence in Endocrine Research. At an awards ceremony on May 17, Mitchell spoke about the “Role of endogenous hydrogen sulfide in endocrine regulation of aging.” The award was presented by Gökhan S. Hotamisligil, J.S. Simmons…

If people in the U.S. adopted a healthy lifestyle—not smoking, drinking in moderation, maintaining a healthy body weight, and exercising regularly—half of all cancer deaths and close to half of all cancer diagnoses could potentially be prevented, according to a new study from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. The study’s emphasis on prevention…

Emmanuel Kwaku Akyeampong, professor of history and of African and African-American studies, has been named the Oppenheimer Faculty Director at the Center for African Studies. Akyeampong, who joined Harvard faculty in 1993, is senior historian of Africa at Harvard, specializing in West Africa, Islam in Sub-Saharan Africa, comparative slavery, social history of alcohol, disease and medicine,…

Women who attended religious services more than once per week were more than 30% less likely to die during a 16-year-follow-up than women who never attended, according to a study from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Frequent attendees also had significantly lower risk both from cardiovascular- and cancer-related mortality. The study was published online…

The Office of the President has announced the recipients of the 2016 Presidential Public Service Fellows. Launched with the aid of an anonymous gift in 2011, the fellowship program provides funding for undergraduate and graduate students in the middle of their studies to pursue summer work experiences in government and community service, nongovernmental organization and…

Can precision medicine be applied to disease prevention? That was the question at the center of the 163rd Cutter Lecture on Preventive Medicine, at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health on May 6, 2016. Speaking to a packed auditorium in Kresge G-1, Duncan C. Thomas, professor and director of the Biostatistics Division at the University…

The Center for Jewish Studies at Harvard University is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2016 Selma and Lewis Weinstein Prize in Jewish Studies. Nancy Ko ’17, a junior in Kirkland House, and Elena Florence Hoffenberg ’16 and Jacob Moscona ’16, both seniors in Cabot House, have won this year’s Selma and Lewis Weinstein…

In a rush in the morning? What are some ideas for a quick, healthy, satisfying breakfast? Time magazine asked that question and two researchers from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health shared their answers. One idea is a combination of whole grains, nuts, and fruit, plus a healthy protein such as Greek yogurt, said…

Nancy F. Cott, Jonathan Trumbull Professor of American History, has assumed the presidency of the Organization of American Historians (OAH). Cott, who has taught at Harvard since 2002, lectures on gender, sexuality, and marriage in the 19th and 20th centuries. The author of “Public Vows: A History of Marriage and the Nation” (200) and “The…

This past Saturday, nearly 500 students from more than 20 countries gathered on the Harvard Business School (HBS) campus to meet their classmates from HBX online programs and visit the Harvard Business School campus, most for the first time. The occasion was HBX ConneXt, a first-of-its-kind event hosted by HBX, Harvard Business School’s digital learning…

The online application for fall 2016 HILT Spark Grants will open on June 15, 2016. The deadline is July 13, 2016 at 5 p.m. Harvard University benefits-eligible faculty, students, staff, and postdoctoral researchers are eligible to apply for funding individually, or as groups. For more information, please visit our webpage. HILT is always willing to meet with…

Most Americans are opposed to a move under way in Congress to speed up the process for developing new drugs and medical devices, according to a new poll of U.S. adults by Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and STAT. Those polled were told that new regulations under consideration—the 21st Century Cures Act in the…

Harvard is proud to be part of the Cambridge community and helps contribute to the city’s vibrant cultural, social, and civic communities by providing residents with access to a variety of offerings that promote access to learning and opportunity. “The relationship between Harvard University and the city of Cambridge is older than the nation itself.…

Black Americans are gaining in life expectancy, according to new federal data. In 1990, the gap between black and white life expectancy was seven years; by 2014, it was down to 3.4 years, with life expectancy at 75.6 years for blacks and 79 years for whites. The gains have come from declines in the suicide…

Guinea worm, a water-borne parasitic disease that can be excruciatingly painful, affected 3.5 million people in 1986. Now there are only 22 cases left, and Donald Hopkins, M.P.H. ’70 — who has doggedly fought Guinea worm over the past two decades — is hoping to see it eradicated in his lifetime. A May 6, 2016…

E-cigarettes, cigars, pipe tobacco, and hookah tobacco will soon be regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and their sale will be banned to anyone under age 18, it was announced May 5. Vaughan Rees, director of the Center for Global Tobacco Control at Harvard Chan School, discusses the impact of this new…

The Faculty of Arts and Sciences recently awarded the Hoopes Prize to 64 Harvard College seniors. Given in recognition of outstanding scholarly work or research, the prize is funded by the estate of Thomas T. Hoopes ’19, who established it to “promote excellence in the art of teaching.” Awards are given both to undergraduates and…

Sixty-six medical and veterinary students from 34 schools across the nation will spend a full year conducting mentored basic, translational and applied research as fellows in the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Medical Research Fellows Program This year’s class includes 11 students who will begin conducting their research at Harvard Medical School this summer. Two students from the…

There are tons of records about guns—who sells them, who buys them, and, if they were used in crimes, when and where—but those records don’t necessarily make it into any database available to researchers. Although evidence suggests that fewer guns mean fewer suicides and homicides, there’s just not enough data to influence national policy, according…

On May 2, 2016, the Bureau of Study Counsel (BSC) presented the Joseph L. Barrett Award to Jasmine Fernandez ’16, Ana Barros ’16, and Ted White ’17. The award commemorates Joseph L. Barrett ’73, by honoring exceptional students who give their time to support their peers in developing more meaningful college experiences. Jasmine, Ana, and…

European pressed coffee has become more fashionable in the U.S. But it may have a negative impact on health if you drink too much, according to nutrition expert Eric Rimm of Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Pressed coffee is made by mixing ground coffee beans with boiled water in a special glass pitcher…

Eleven faculty members have been awarded 2016 Walter Channing Cabot Fellowships for their outstanding publications. The 2016 honorees are: Suzanne Preston Blier, Allen Whitehill Clowes Professor of Fine Arts and of African and African American Studies, “Art and Risk in Ancient Yoruba: Ife History, Power, and Identity c. 1300” (Cambridge University Press, 2015) Khaled El-Rouayheb, James Richard…

Although most states ban texting by drivers, the problem appears to be getting worse—and road fatalities are on the rise. To change people’s behavior, lawmakers and public health experts are devising new strategies, some of which mimic strategies to combat drunk driving that began nearly three decades ago. Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health…

Two hundred years. Even in an institution as venerable as Harvard University, that’s a long time. Harvard Divinity School, the nation’s first nonsectarian theological school, will celebrate its bicentennial during the 2016-17 academic year with events and exhibits that highlight the School’s mission to illuminate, engage, and serve the world through the pursuit and practice…