Massachusetts: Drew Faust

February 18, 2009 - 06:09 pm
NEWS FEED: Blue Mass Group

Harvard Announces Salary Freeze, Scaling Back in Allston

In a "letter to the community," today, Harvard President Drew Faust confirmed the university's earlier estimate that its endowment will shrink 30%, "before subtracting the additional $1.4 billion that will go toward current operations." Worse, she writes, "The current yearly endowment distribution -- the dollars we take out of the endowment to support activities across the University -- is approximately 50% higher than it was when the endowment was last at the value we expect as of next June 30."

The school will hold faculty and some staff salaries flat next year, institute voluntary retirement for about 1,600, and reconsider, "the pace and scale of our physical expansion in Allston," among other steps.

Mon, 12/01/2008 - 18:00

Kennedy accepts degree, hails Obama election as turning point for country

CAMBRIDGE - Flanked by his wife, a Supreme Court Justice who happens to be his former staffer, a world-renowned cellist and the president of Harvard University, U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy accepted an honorary degree from Harvard University on Monday.

In his remarks in front of a packed house that included Vice President-elect Joe Biden, Kennedy emphasized how special the timing of this award is coming right on the heels of President-elect Barack Obama's victory in November.