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Articles by Primus VI
Origin Stories
Primus is often captivated by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences’ memorial minutes on the scholarly passions and personal crotchets of distinguished deceased professors. Those delivered on May 2 were intellectually mind-blowing: Pellegrino University Professor E. O. Wilson, the ant whisperer and biodiversity evangelist; professor of biological oceanography James J.
John Harvard, Reader
Your independent source for Harvard news since 1898 | SUBSCRIBE Log-in | Register Articles News more News Allston, higher-education outreach, and free speech make for a busy conclusion to the twenty-ninth president’s Mass Hall tenure.
Over the River Dept.
Branding. Even when at play, apparently, the M.B.A.s-to-be at Harvard Business School (HBS) are also at work. The lawn between the spiffy Klarman Hall (HBS’s terrific conference facility) and the Schwartz Pavilion (for covered outdoor lounging) is equipped with casual seating and—who knew?—cornhole gear. Lest this be thought too down-market or frivolous, it turns out to be a continuing lesson in branding: the target boards are crimson, with prominent HBS initials. Who gets the credit for that?
Bookish
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Ahead of His Time
Looming large. Henry Lee Higginson, A.B. 1855, LL.D. 1882, left a huge mark on Boston (he founded the symphony) and Harvard (he joined the Corporation in 1893). With investors, and no help from his alma mater, he assembled and held in trust the industrial land across the Charles River, intended to house a new MIT campus, that became the site for the Business School, and he personally donated Soldiers Field, for athletics—the essential steps into Allston.
Learners, Grizzled and Downy
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On Commencements
Harvard’s Commencement guest speakers have delivered some memorable addresses, (and forgettable ones). But the oration at the Phi Beta Kappa literary exercises, on the Tuesday morning before degrees are conferred on Thursday, sets an intellectual tone for the week appropriate for what is, after all, an academic institution.
Fancy Footwork
The (biomechanical) mind at work. The late Thomas A. McMahon, McKay professor of applied mechanics and professor of biology, was described in colleagues’ Memorial Minute as animated by “an unusually eclectic array of research activities.” Indeed. Drawing on mathematical techniques and historical rowing data, he established “the connection between the speed and the class of rowing shell”—a problem in biomechanics if ever there were one.
Small-Town Roots
Small-town Professors. Faculty members at elite institutions like this one are commonly thought of as a sleek breed. But their origins sometimes are, or at least were, humble, and far from cutting-edge. Two memorial minutes presented to the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at its October meeting offered charming examples. The late Raymond L.
Memorable Mentors
Mentor remembered. Frances A. Boyle, J.D. ’76, Ph.D. ’83, professor of law at the University of Illinois, recalling his beloved teacher, Richard C.
Origin Stories
The bow and arrow press, ensconced in the Adams House B-Entry basement, keeps alive the art of letterpress printing. But sometimes news about venerable technologies travels via newer ones. A June email to the Bow and Arrow list, kindly forwarded by Mary Murphy ’99, an occasional student at the press, with “From the Unknown Co-Founder” as the intriguing subject line, plumbs the origin story.
Sidney Verba, and a Classy Class Reporter
A Mensch. In the Memorial Minute on the life of the late Sidney Verba, a prominent government scholar, presented to the Faculty of Arts and Sciences in March, it was observed that as a youth, “He was unaware of Harvard until his public high school guidance counselor suggested he apply and he looked up ‘Harvard University’” in the nearby branch of the Brooklyn Public Library. That first brush with Harvard apparently took—nor was that Verba’s last important encounter with libraries.
Wilbur Cross, Martin Feldstein, and Charles William Eliot
The spring of 1933 was a trying time: the depths of the Depression, a new president scrambling to reverse systemic disasters and lift shattered spirits. Sound familiar? During that Commencement week, the Phi Beta Kappa Orator was Connecticut governor Wilbur Cross—he of the eponymous parkway, and a thorough Yalie.
The College Pump | Harvard Magazine
MCMLVI masks. For their sixty-fifth reunion, whatever form it may take, members of the College class of 1956 conceived of a custom mask subtly emblazoned with a golden MCMLVI. Design and manufacturing were overseen by the inimitable Daniel J. McCarron, long-time University printer and self-described “senior design consultant” on any and all projects Crimson. Photograph courtesy of Daniel J. McCarron * * * In due time.
Harvard’s naturalist, acronym guide, distracted professor at work
Rob Gogan, Harvard’s recycling and waste manager, retired in October, having long done more than anyone else to instill a culture of waste-reduction, reuse (of furniture, for example), recycling, and composting throughout the University. Helped by friends and correspondents, he also compiled and published a monthly “Nature Watch,” starting in 2001. With Harvard now barely peopled, it seems fitting to share some of his collected observations of the other kinds of life that teem on campus.
Civil War image, Empire State homage, and more
Peach state dispatch. W. Todd Groce, president and CEO of the Georgia Historical Society, writes: I recently made an exciting discovery. About 35 years ago, while rummaging through a pile of antique books at the Nashville Flea Market, I came across a pocket New Testament inscribed “Charles F. Cabot, presented by E.E. Herrick, 1862.” Since it was only a few dollars I bought it. Not until about 20 years ago did I decide to discover the identity of those names.
Prognostications on disease defense, China, deficits, and sweat
They were prepared. Alexandra Petri ’10, a columnist for The Washington Post, memorably skewers the pompous and powerful. Nothing Is Wrong and Here Is Why, her new collection, reveals her as a contemporary Cassandra.
Dr. Fauci, social distance, and a campus without people
Existential Q&A. A novel situation, like a pandemic, raises novel questions. For one, is an impeccable university campus still beautiful if no one is around to see it? In search of an answer, Primus walked across Harvard Yard early on March 24, shortly before the Massachusetts order shutting nonessential businesses took effect. In the gray light, the bubbly yellow flowers of Cornus mas (cornelian cherry) showed to particular effect.
Princeton Preps
Prep schooled. The best training to become a Harvard dean? A Princeton undergraduate education. Or so this evidence, published in the November 7, 2018, issue of our peer magazine, Princeton Alumni Weekly, strongly suggests. Upstaging John Harvard (and, like all Tigers, stoic—or heedless—in face of sartorial criticism), are Michelle Williams, Princeton ’84, public health; Douglas Elmendorf ’83, government; Bridget Terry Long ’95, education; and Francis Doyle III ’85, engineering and applied sciences.
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