September 16, 2026
Talking Points: Summer/Fall 2026
The latest news in the Harvard Griffin GSAS community includes new astronomical discoveries, a major artwork donation, an AI venture award, 3MT competition winners, and new leadership appointments.
Alumni Scientists Detect Atmosphere on Distant "Earth-Like" Planet
A group of Harvard scientists led by new alumnus Collin Cherubim, PhD ’26, and including FAS professors David Charbonneau, PhD ’01, and Robyn Wordsworth, has discovered an atmosphere on an Earth-like planet in the temperate "habitable zone" of a distant star system—an intriguing hint of another world that might be capable of hosting life. In a study published in Science, the team details the helium-dominated atmosphere of the planet LHS 1140 b, located about 48 light-years from Earth. "People are generally interested in the big questions," said Cherubim. "Are we alone? Is there life beyond the Earth or beyond our solar system? To that end, this study reveals the first atmosphere discovered on a rocky planet in the habitable zone of a star outside our solar system."
Learn more on the new FAS Current website.
Alum, 101, Gifts Unique Artwork to Student Center
Family and friends of the inventor and entrepreneur David Bakalar, AM ’48, joined Harvard administrators and staff on June 23, 2026, to celebrate the donation of three large-scale, semi-abstract paintings from the Harvard Griffin GSAS alumnus's Brain Series. The mixed-media and acrylic works—two 80-by-40-inch paintings and one 80-by-60-inch painting—evoke the synapses of the brain while drawing inspiration from , Albert Einstein's landmark mass-energy equivalence formula. On display in the lobby of Zimmer Hall (formerly the Science Center) through the end of 2026, the works will eventually move to their permanent home, the Harvard Griffin GSAS Student Center in Lehman Hall. "It's a wonderful experience to get older and be exposed to these positive things in the arts and sciences," Bakalar said, "and I think it's never-ending."
Read about the paintings and about Bakalar's background.
Harvard Griffin GSAS Team Wins Innovation Challenge
A team from Harvard Griffin GSAS was one of the five $75,000 grand prize winners of the 2026 President's Innovation Challenge, Harvard University's flagship venture competition for students as well as select alumni and affiliates. Refine Technologies, led by Yann Calvó López, SM ’26, and developed jointly with the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, won for creating an AI system for research papers that provides reviewer-grade feedback in minutes instead of months. Winners were celebrated at a May 6 ceremony in Klarman Hall and received a share of more than $500,000 in non-dilutive funding from the Bertarelli Foundation.
Find out more about the competition and its winners.
Dissertation in Three Minutes
An enthusiastic crowd filled Sever Hall 113 on March 5, 2026, as 10 of Harvard Griffin GSAS's top student researchers took on the challenge of presenting years of complex research in a flash as part of Harvard Griffin GSAS's second annual Three Minute Thesis Competition (3MT). Part of a national competition, the speakers gave fascinating talks about their research in three minutes, ranging in scale and scope from the microscopic to the universal, with the aid of only one static slide. Biological sciences in public health student Abigail Frey took first prize for "Uncovering the Unknown," which described her work identifying drug-resistant tuberculosis. Second prize went to materials science student Sofia Edgar for "Just Right," which presented her effort to design better batteries for a renewable future. Masoud Ariankhoo (Near Eastern languages and civilizations) received the third-place award for his talk "How the Devil Defines Us," which explored the often conflicting versions of Satan presented in medieval literature.
Watch the presentations on the Harvard Griffin GSAS YouTube channel.
Furman Named Director of Center for Business and Government
FAS economist Jason Furman, PhD ’04, has been named director of Harvard Kennedy School's Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government (M-RCBG) by Dean Jeremy Weinstein, PhD ’03. Furman will serve alongside Co-director John Haigh, who has co-led the center since 2011. Under Furman and Haigh's leadership, M-RCBG will work to help the world better understand and tackle the most pressing challenges by conducting rigorous research, teaching and mentoring students, hosting practitioners and policymakers as fellows, and convening timely conversations between leading experts. "We are thrilled to have Jason bring extraordinary vision, insights, and experience to this role," said Weinstein. "Together, he and John will lead the center into an exciting new chapter."
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