ON THE DAY Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, historian Serhii Plokhy was on sabbatical in Vienna, researching a new book about Chernobyl. He’d spent weeks sifting through documents in the archives of the International Atomic Energy Agency, sometimes long into the night. On what turned out to be his last working day there, February…Continue Reading The Return of History
Jill Lepore teaches history at Harvard and writes about history for the New Yorker. But she’s equally interested in the present: “We have an obligation to try to make sense of the relationship between today and yesterday,” she says. Lepore’s latest book The Deadline, which comes out on Aug. 29, is a selection of her essays over…Continue Reading Why Historian Jill Lepore Hated Barbie
One raced to create a better, faster test system to help deal with the spread of COVID; the other wielded big data to break myths about who achieves the American Dream and the obstacles faced by others. For those achievements, the University has awarded the coveted George Ledlie Prize to biologist Michael Springer and economist…Continue Reading Springer, Chetty win Ledlie Prize
Hopi Hoekstra, a pathbreaking scholar of the life sciences in the interdisciplinary field of evolutionary genetics, begins her tenure as Edgerley Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences today. Hoekstra’s extensive teaching portfolio includes her role as course head and longtime instructor in “Life Sciences 1b,” one of Harvard College’s foundational science courses. She also…Continue Reading Hopi Hoekstra takes office
Colleagues express confidence, elation in selection of Hopi Hoekstra as next dean of Faculty of Arts and Sciences! James Hanken was chatting with colleague Hopi Hoekstra at a Harvard faculty meeting this spring. “I said to her, ‘Are you going to be the next FAS dean?’ I had no inkling; I was not involved in…Continue Reading A ‘formidable’ choice
By Naomi Oreskes Dr. Oreskes is a professor of the history of science at Harvard and the author of “Science on a Mission: How Military Funding Shaped What We Do and Don’t Know About the Ocean.” As details emerged about the implosion last week of the Titan submersible in its descent to the wreck of the…Continue Reading This Myth About Innovation May Have Doomed the Titan
Hopi Hoekstra, an eminent life scientist who has served on the Harvard faculty since 2007, will become the next Edgerley Family Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Harvard President-elect Claudine Gay announced on Monday. Hoekstra is currently the Alexander Agassiz Professor of Zoology in the Departments of Molecular and Cellular Biology and Organismic and…Continue Reading Hopi Hoekstra named next FAS dean
Economics professor Oliver S.D. Hart was made a knight by King Charles III, the British government announced last week. Hart, who received a 2016 Nobel Prize in Economics for his work in contract theory, was made a Knight Bachelor as part of the King’s birthday honors. The Knight Bachelor is the oldest knighthood in the United Kingdom. The…Continue Reading Economics Professor Oliver Hart Knighted By King Charles III
Mashail Malik was always interested in human experience. At first it took her to literature, philosophy but now her focus is ethnic, identity politics. On a June evening in 2009, militants detonated a car bomb packed with more than 1,000 pounds of explosives near the Pearl Continental Hotel in Peshawar, Pakistan, killing 17 and injuring…Continue Reading Car bombing in Pakistan nearly took her father’s life — and changed hers
Two Harvard professors have won prestigious awards from the American Political Science Association. Theda Skocpol, Ph.D. ’75, the Victor S. Thomas Professor of Government and Sociology, was selected for the 2023 James Madison Award, a triennial honor recognizing a lifetime of distinguished scholarly contributions to the field of political science. “I understand it’s probably the highest…Continue Reading Theda Skocpol, Daniel Carpenter land prestigious political science awards
