HPH NOW, May 28, 2004, Dean Ware Delivers Keynote Address at Ceremony Recognizing 25 Years of Service University-Wide

Dean Ware Delivers Keynote Address at Ceremony Recognizing 25 Years of Service University-Wide


	Dean James Ware

During the past quarter century, Harvard University has undergone remarkable transformations both observed and effected by faculty and staff, noted James Ware, HSPH Dean for Academic Affairs and keynote speaker at the annual University-wide 25-Year Recognition Ceremony at Pound Hall, Harvard Law School, on May 13.

The event, presided over by President Lawrence Summers, recognized 135 individuals from across the University who were marking their 25th anniversary with Harvard this calendar year. Representing HSPH were Dean Ware; Jill Arnold of the Department of Nutrition; Vickie Beaulieu of the Department of Biostatistics; and Virginia Braga of the Department of Genetics and Complex Diseases.

"You are a special group within the Harvard community, one to whom we should be, and we are, especially grateful," said President Summers. "I want us to take this opportunity to thank you for the jobs you have done extraordinarily well."

When Dean Ware came to HSPH in 1979, the University was unveiling the first group of courses to be included in Harvard’s new core undergraduate curriculum. That curriculum, he noted, is now being reassessed with a view toward increasing the focus on the sciences and international learning.


President Lawrence Summers

Harvard is more diverse now than 25 years ago, observed Dean Ware. There is an increased presence of women and of persons of color, while "a tendency toward insularity has fortunately given way to an embrace of internationalism, in our students and in our sense of what our University needs to be doing in the world," he said. Dean Ware lauded President Summers’ efforts to commit Harvard to eliminating tuition for undergraduates from low-income families and to providing more financial assistance for graduate students who are undertaking service careers.

A technological revolution has taken place in the last quarter century, led in part by famous Harvard dropout Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft and philanthropist. "The way we work and learn today was almost unimaginable 25 years ago," said Dean Ware. "Who knows what it will be like in 2029."

Plans under discussion for a future expansion of Harvard in Allston "entail far more than a bold building campaign," said Dean Ware, "but, more importantly, an opportunity to radically rethink the University's approach to education and research."

The Harvard Glee Club sang during the ceremony. Each honoree received a certificate of recognition, and a reception followed.

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