As they receive their degrees, two students & one recent graduate look back at their time as leaders at the Student Center at Harvard Griffin GSAS, the life and career skills they learned, and the legacy of community that they leave behind for those who will follow.

Graduating student Avi Moorthy reflects on his childhood in Toronto, his parents’ journey from India to North America, and his quest to understand how Black newspapers like the Chicago Defender enabled one of the largest mass migrations in American history.

A Georgia native homeschooled through high school in a close-knit Southern Baptist community, November ’25 graduate Abigail McClain Gomez graduated builds on her PhD research today at IBM, where she is part of the effort to make quantum computing a practical reality.

What do we really gain from making new friends, and does it matter who they are? Graduating public policy PhD student Gabriella Fleischman explored these questions and more: gsas.harvard.edu/news/benefit...

Graduating student Andrew Bair discusses his research challenging the accepted chronology of Irish settlement in the Middle Ages, and how his study of archaeology and computer science at Columbia led him eventually to Harvard Griffin GSAS.

A new circular RNA vaccine developed by graduating Harvard Griffin GSAS PhD student Alton Gayton has not only demonstrated the ability to prevent cervical cancer, but also "to completely eradicate" existing tumors in mouse models.

A Black father with blue-collar roots, November 2025 PhD graduate Thomas Blakeslee re-examines Black masculinity, countering decades of stereotypes with his research on "radical paternity."

The Fannie and John Hertz Foundation today announced its 2026 cohort of fellows, including five current and incoming Harvard Griffin GSAS students. The award is one of the most prestigious and competitive honors in the applied sciences, engineering, and mathematics.

By equipping robots with new sensing modalities, November 2025 graduate Ninad Jadhav makes them both more independent and better at collaboration.

Outdated regulations make it nearly impossible to build homes more affordably. The solution? Create a faster approval process and update codes to focus on what a home needs to do rather than dictating exactly how it must be built.

A generation after the bestselling Rules for Aging, author Roger Rosenblatt, PhD ’68, is back with More Rules for Aging, a new collection of wry maxims and hard-won wisdom.

Each spring, the Harvard Griffin GSAS celebrates one of its most enduring and honored traditions: the selection of Commencement marshals. We're pleased to announce our 2026 Commencement Marshals!

May 2026 PhD graduate Alan Wong focuses on developing new approaches to treat pediatric leukemia while reducing harm to the brain.

Harvard Griffin GSAS alumni share their knowledge in books written for their field and a wider audience. On #WorldBookDay, discover some of their latest works.

Harvard Griffin GSAS students Arya Rao and Ananthan Sadagopan have been named recipients of the 2026 Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans.

Nikolas Bowie, Louis D. Brandeis Professor of Law at Harvard Law School, discusses his forthcoming book Supremacy. Discover why he argues that the US Supreme Court's claim to final say over the Constitution is not inevitable and how Congress can reclaim its power.

Spiritual wellness is a vital but often overlooked dimension of graduate student well-being. Tammy McLeod, president of the Harvard Chaplains, offers suggestions for cultivating meaning, connection, and renewal during the spring season.

Marked by special events and activities, Graduate Student Appreciation Month in April is a moment to give back to the people who contribute so much to Harvard throughout the year.

Jill Kastner, PhD ’99, and co-author William Wohlforth explore the history of great power subversion in their new book A Measure Short of War. Discover why states continue to use subversion alongside diplomacy and warfare, from ancient Greece to the digital age.

In an interview with Harvard Griffin GSAS, Margaret Morganroth Gullette, PhD ’75, discusses how policy choices and market incentives fueled the tragedy in US nursing facilities during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Cassondra Hanna is a third-year PhD student in African and African American studies at Harvard Griffin GSAS, studying the history of Black education through a lens that’s often overlooked: the institutions that didn’t survive.

Faculty, students, and administrators came together in Lehman Hall on March 26, 2026, to honor mentors who have made a profound impact on the scholars and scientists they serve.

On the latest episode of Colloquy, historian Vanessa Williamson, PhD '15, discusses how the fight for taxation has been central to American democracy, liberty, and the pursuit of equality since the founding.

Gus Beane, PhD ’25, reflects on his early fascination with physics, the challenge of modeling events from billions of years ago, and how his advisor’s support helped him navigate graduate school—and life—through moments of real difficulty.

Discover how Harvard Griffin GSAS alumnus Rohan Murty uses AI to improve team productivity with Soroco and Workfabric AI, and champions the humanities by bringing ancient texts to modern readers through the Murty Classical Library of India.

By studying the visual, material, and religious cultures of Africa, Latin America, and Europe in the early modern Atlantic world, Professor Cécile Fromont, PhD '93, uses art and visual culture to interrogate what societies choose to see—or ignore.

In new research on the female protective effect in autism, Harvard and MIT scientists reveal how sex-based genetic differences influence risk and open new doors for targeted therapies.

Ten speakers, chosen as finalists from across the humanities, social sciences, and STEM disciplines, had the task of presenting their research to a broad audience in just three minutes, using the aid of one static slide.

Rodrigo Araiza Bravo, PhD ’24, studies quantum computing, but with a twist: He is determined to temper “pure research” with an understanding of its potential ethical, moral, and societal effects of science.

Exciting news! Harvard Griffin GSAS’s alumni magazine, Colloquy, is officially an online-only publication! Explore the winter/spring 2026 issue today: gsas.harvard.edu/colloquy

Two 2025 Harvard Griffin GSAS PhD graduates and a current PhD student have been named to the 2026 cohort of Schmidt Science Fellows, joining a select group of 32 emerging research leaders worldwide chosen to accelerate discovery. gsas.harvard.edu/news/three-h...

Harvard Griffin GSAS provides resources and guidance to help students understand their funding, plan budgets, manage debt, and build confidence in their financial decision-making.

MIT economist David Autor, PhD ’99, discusses the "China Shock" and its devastating impact on US manufacturing jobs, labor markets, and local communities. gsas.harvard.edu/news/david-a...

Since joining Harvard Griffin GSAS in 2013, Janet Daniels has helped create spaces for graduate students to connect beyond their academic work, and she hopes to expand those opportunities and ensure the Center is a place where every student feels they belong.

PhD student Abigail Frey won the 2026 Three-Minute Thesis competition for her groundbreaking research on drug-resistant tuberculosis. Her work’s great reward, however, is identifying TB mutations, paving the way for personalized treatment and improved global health.

In this episode of the Colloquy podcast, historian, author, and former presidential adviser Ted Widmer discusses the use of state power in American cities then—and now.

MIT Professor Andrew Lo, PhD ’84, shares his thoughts on how AI is revolutionizing almost every industry, including financial services. youtu.be/1cvhtSAYq68?...

Recent alumnus S. Furkan Ozturk, PhD ’24, talks about a life-changing summer camp experience, going to college during a coup attempt and ISIS bombings, and searching for the origins of life through the physics of molecular symmetry-breaking.

New research from economists Jamie Gracie, PhD ’25, and Ben Goldman, PhD ’24, shows that investments in non-academic “navigators” can yield big returns for economically disadvantaged kids.

As AI becomes ever more interwoven in daily life, new research from Nina Beguš, PhD ’20, and Gašper Beguš, PhD '18, is beginning to map out machine learning’ "latent space," the hidden mathematical area that processes information and eventually produces an output.

Duygu Payzin Dogru, PhD '22, and her colleagues reveal the axolotl’s 'whole-body' secret to limb regrowth, offering a new blueprint for the future of human regenerative medicine. Learn more:

Despite conducting groundbreaking social science research, W.E.B. Du Bois chose to leave the academy and become an activist, co-founding the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. What inspired him to make the change?

Are the elements that made Boston the cauldron of the American Revolution in the 1770s playing out again in the United States today? Ted Widmer, PhD ’93, discusses the parallels—and perils—of looking to the past to understand the present. Learn more:

Raphael Kay is turning to nature to tackle one of the world’s most urgent sustainability challenges: the colossal amount of energy required to light, heat, and cool modern buildings.

Fostering meaningful social connections and cultivating healthy relationships can enhance graduate student well-being during the demands and transitions of academic life.

Senior Program Coordinator Rachael Walker and Hogle Coordinating Fellow Paul Secchia, a 5th year PhD student, talk about what the Student Center Fellows Program is, what students gain from becoming a fellow, & how to learn more and apply before the March 9 deadline.

With support from the President's Building Bridges Fund, two PhD students in the life sciences have embarked on a project to map the range of opinion on genes and genetics among experts at Harvard.

Is it possible to find love when you’re married to your research? For these Harvard Griffin GSAS alumni, the two went hand in hand. Three couples tell their stories of first dates, courtship, and commitment.

How did the Harvard PhD experience influence W.E.B. Du Bois, the man who would become one of the leading Black activists and intellectuals of the 20th century? Join us as we explore these questions in the first of a two-part convo on the Colloquy podcast.

Black members of Congress, like other groups, are often typecast. PhD student Hunter Rendleman explores how much their identities and behaviors reflect their own identities and how much they're shaped by the way people think the legislators should behave.