Winter/Spring 2024

"I give to Harvard so I can help others go. It’s the best investment I can make,” says Edgar Barroso PhD ’14. Getting the chance to pursue a doctorate in music at Harvard Gri  n GSAS changed his life. He shares that neither of his grandparents had access to education and marvels that Harvard invited their grandchild, “some dude from Mexico in the middle of nowhere and said, ‘Please come and we will take care of you.’" 

Since Harvard, Barroso has worked as a composer, a professor of government, and a public entrepreneur. “I love being in this transdisciplinary world. I learned that’s possible at Harvard,” he says. 

Barroso has thought carefully about how to give back and make a greater difference in people’s lives. “You have limited time and personal capacity,” he observes. “The only way you can have a bigger impact is through others.” 

Dividing his time between Switzerland and Mexico, he stays deeply connected as a volunteer on the GSAS Alumni Council, craving those serendipitous conversations with people “smarter than me.” His advice to the next generation of graduate students? “You are going to be around brilliant people from all disciplines. Connect as much as possible and remember, you can build things together.”