June 4, 2009
President Drew Faust announced a partnership with the federal government today that will help America’s military veterans obtain a Harvard education.
In remarks at the Harvard ROTC Commissioning Ceremony, President Faust announced that Harvard College, all of Harvard’s graduate and professional schools, and the Harvard Extension School will help fund the cost of tuition for veterans by participating in the new federal Yellow Ribbon GI Education Enhancement Program.
“This is an opportunity for us to show our gratitude to the citizen-soldiers who have given so much for our nation,” President Faust said. “Under this partnership, as many as 150 veterans will be able to receive substantial assistance to study at Harvard this fall. In the coming years, I hope this investment will be continued and even expanded across the Harvard campus.”
Under the recently approved Post 9/11 GI Bill, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) pays tuition expenses for eligible veterans at the highest in-state undergraduate public college or university rate. The bill’s Yellow Ribbon Program permits private universities like Harvard to voluntarily enter into an agreement with the VA to help fund tuition expenses that exceed the highest public in-state tuition rate. The VA matches tuition contributions made by participating private institutions of higher education.
During the 2009-10 academic year, Harvard College, each of Harvard’s graduate and professional schools, and the Harvard Extension School will contribute funds to help pay tuition expenses for veterans who participate in the program, but for whom the standard VA reimbursement does not fully cover the entire cost.
For further information, students who are veterans should be in touch with their financial aid office.
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March 31, 2009
Matt Lauer, co-anchor of “Today” on NBC News, has been selected as the 2009 Senior Class Day speaker. He will address Harvard College graduates and their guests on June 3 at 2 p.m. in Tercentenary Theatre at Harvard Yard.
“Matt Lauer’s work as a journalist places him right in the middle of many pressing issues that affect our graduating class, our society, and the world,” said Lumumba Seegars ’09, First Marshal of the Senior Class Committee. “The stories he has heard, the things he has seen, and the people he has met throughout his career all provide him with an inspiring viewpoint from which to address the graduating seniors. We are incredibly excited to welcome him to Harvard.”
Senior Class Day is a student-focused, informal celebration that takes place the day before Commencement. In addition to a featured speaker selected by the Senior Class Committee, Class Day Exercises include award presentations and undergraduate orations.
Lauer joined NBC News in 1994 and became co-anchor of the acclaimed “Today” show in 1997. The live broadcast, which airs on weekday mornings, covers domestic and international news in a range of fields such as politics, business, and entertainment.
In his role as co-anchor, Lauer has reported on stories that include the launch of Operation Iraqi Freedom, the Monica Lewinsky scandal, the 25th anniversary of the fall of Saigon, and the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing. He has conducted many first and exclusive interviews with President Barack Obama, former President George W. Bush, then-first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, Sen. John McCain, Sen. Larry Craig, and Yeslan Bin Laden, half-brother of Osama Bin Laden. Lauer is also co-host of the annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
For the past nine years, Lauer has hosted a special travel series for “Today.” Titled “Where in the World Is Matt Lauer?” the program features a week of live broadcasts from remote locations across the globe. To date Lauer has reported on 44 destinations, including Mount Everest, the Great Wall of China, Machu Picchu, Angkor Wat, and Moscow’s Red Square.
Lauer is a graduate of the Scripps College of Communication at Ohio University. He began his career reporting at WOWK-TV in Huntington, W.Va., and subsequently hosted news and talk programs in Boston, Philadelphia, and Providence, R.I. Lauer was the host of “9 Broadcast Plaza,” a live interview program in New York, before joining WNBC-TV. He currently lives in New York with his family.
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January 30, 2009
Cancer vaccine research and technological development to benefit life sciences
The Blavatnik Family Foundation, headed by Len Blavatnik M.B.A. ’89, has given Harvard University two gifts totaling $10 million in support of its scientific and technological research. Half the gift will go to the Eli and Edythe L. Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT to support cancer vaccine research, and half will go to the Harvard University Technology Development Accelerator Fund, which seeds highly promising early-stage research in the life sciences.
“We are deeply grateful to the Blavatnik Family for their support of these powerful avenues for transformative scientific progress,” said Harvard University Provost Steven Hyman. “As one of the world’s foremost research universities, Harvard has a special obligation to foster the development and translation of scientific insights that could benefit the public and society as a whole. These generous gifts will allow us to continue to fulfill that obligation.”
These two gifts from the Blavatnik Foundation strengthen Harvard University’s commitment to advancing innovative scientific research that serves the public interest. The foundation’s $5 million gift to the Broad Institute will support the research of Professors Nir Hacohen and Catherine Wu of the Department of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. Hacohen and Wu are working to develop personalized cancer vaccines using genome-based identification of mutated tumor proteins (neoantigens). The goal of their research is to direct a patient’s own immune system to attack and eradicate a tumor based on the presence of these foreign neoantigens that are present only in the cancer cells. If successful, the development of personalized cancer vaccines will transform the way we treat cancer.
The Blavatnik Foundation’s $5 million gift to the Harvard University Technology Development Accelerator Fund will further the development of early-stage technologies that support progress in the life sciences — ultimately benefiting the public at large. The Accelerator Fund helps bridge the funding gap that leaves many promising technologies sitting on laboratory shelves, providing funding to move discoveries to the stage where traditional venture capital funds and industry might invest in them and develop their life-saving potential.
“I am proud to support Harvard University’s visionary activities in the realm of scientific and technological research,” said Blavatnik. “Harvard is consistently in the forefront of health and life science discoveries and I am very hopeful that these two significant grants by the Blavatnik Family Foundation will help to facilitate further breakthroughs benefiting all mankind.”
Launched in 2004, the Broad Institute is a scientific community of celebrated faculty, professional staff, and students from Harvard, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and other organizations working together to reach new scientific frontiers in genomic medicine.
Managed by the Office of Technology Development, the Harvard University Technology Development Accelerator Fund supports early-stage research in nascent technologies that have commercial potential and support public interest. Award recipients are chosen on scientific merit and the technology transfer potential of their proposals. In 2008, a total of nine projects were funded at $1.51 million.
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January 21, 2009
Interim role subject to Elena Kagan’s confirmation as U.S. Solicitor General
Howell Jackson has agreed to serve as the acting dean of Harvard Law School (HLS), subject to the U.S. Senate’s confirmation of Dean Elena Kagan’s nomination to serve as U.S. Solicitor General, President Drew Faust announced today. Jackson, the James S. Reid Jr. Professor of Law, served as the School’s vice dean for budget from 2003 to 2006. (more…)
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October 7, 2008
Alumnus’ gift to advance the field
Engineer, entrepreneur, and philanthropist Hansjörg Wyss MBA ’65 has given Harvard University $125 million to create the Hansjörg Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering. (more…)
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July 8, 2008
Harvard University today released the report of its Greenhouse Gas Task Force. The task force, appointed by President Drew Faust in February, proposes elements of a framework for much-intensified efforts to reduce the University’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, as part of a broader effort to promote environmental sustainability.”Confronting the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and promote sustainability is a paramount challenge not just for Harvard but for people and organizations around the world,” said William Clark, the Harvey Brooks Professor of International Science, Public Policy, and Human Development and chair of the task force. “I’m very grateful to my colleagues on the task force for working so hard and so thoughtfully to analyze the science, technology, and changing regulatory and economic environment relating to climate change and to generate a unanimous set of recommendations that can establish Harvard as a leader in this crucial effort. We have a great opportunity and responsibility here. Every one of us in the extended Harvard family has a role to play in seizing it.” (more…)
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June 18, 2008
Edward C. Forst, global head of the Investment Management Division for Goldman, Sachs & Co. and a member of the firm’s Management Committee, will become Harvard University’s first executive vice president, effective September 1, Harvard President Drew Faust announced today (June 18).As executive vice president, Forst will be the principal ranking operating officer at the University. In this newly created position, Forst will serve as a senior adviser to the president and will lead the development of administrative capacity in new areas that cross School boundaries or traditional administrative units. He will oversee the financial, administrative, and human resources functions, and administrative components of information technology for the central administration. He also will serve as a member of the board of the Harvard Management Company, which manages the University’s endowment. (more…)
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June 17, 2008
Judith D. Singer, the James Bryant Conant Professor of Education and former academic dean at the Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE), has been named senior vice provost for Faculty Development and Diversity at Harvard University, Provost Steven E. Hyman announced today (June 17). “A distinguished statistician and social scientist, Judy is highly regarded for her intellect and judgment, her prior experience as both academic dean and acting dean with colleague John Willett of the Graduate School of Education, her collaborative style, and her commitment to high standards and diversity in faculty appointments,” said Hyman. “I am pleased that she has agreed to serve as the senior vice provost and that she, President Faust, and I will be working closely together on critical issues of faculty development and diversity across the University.” (more…)
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June 16, 2008
Lori E. Gross, director of arts initiatives and adviser to the associate provost at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), has been named associate provost for arts and culture at Harvard University, Provost Steven E. Hyman announced today (June 16).A longtime advocate for the arts, Gross has worked at MIT over the past 13 years advancing arts-related initiatives and facilitating dialogue on arts and culture policy nationally and internationally. In her role as director of arts initiatives, her principal responsibilities included strategic planning, communications policy and implementation, resource development, and facilities planning. (more…)
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May 15, 2008
Berkman Center for Internet & Society becomes University-wide research center
The Berkman Center for Internet & Society, originally established as a research center at Harvard Law School, has been elevated to a University-wide, interfaculty initiative: the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University. This transition enhances the University’s capacity for interdisciplinary exploration of issues involving information technology. (more…)
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