Marquand Prizes Awarded

Lionel Hall proctor Susan L. Wright and Loeb Associate Professor of the Social Sciences Daniel J. Simons were honored with Marquand Awards for exceptional advising last night.

At a reception in Ticknor Lounge, Wright was awarded the prize for non-Faculty advising while Simons was awarded the prize for best Faculty adviser.

The Undergraduate Council Student Affairs Committee chooses the prize-winners from a pool of advisers nominated by students.

Rohit Chopra ’04, chair of the Student Affairs Committee, said it was clear from the start who was going to win. Wright got “many, many, many nominations,” he said.

“She’s awesome. She knows everything,” said Divya A. Mani ’05, a current proctee of Wright’s. “She subscribes to magazine that she knew we’d like. When she yelled at us for being too noisy, she left us muffins downstairs because she felt bad.”

Wright, who is involved with the HIV clinic at Harvard Medical School and edits the Journal of the Harvard Health Caucus, received a standing ovation when she got her award.

“I used to think that you’re lucky if you had a few moments in your life which you could freeze,” Wright said in her acceptance speech. “Now that I’m here, I realize that you don’t have to freeze those moments.”

“[Nearly] all the great experiences I’ve had here have had proctoring at their core,” she said.

The other winner, Simons, a cognitive neuroscience specialist who has been at Harvard for four years, also received glowing praise from former students.

“He showed a lot of personal interest,” Erin R. Clifford ’01 said. “At 5:00 the day my thesis was due, he was the one there shaking the toner cartridge. I feel extremely lucky.”

“It’s an honor to be even considered.” Simons said. “Advising here is far easier than it would be at other places. You see what the students want to do and you let them do it.”

Simons is leaving for the University of Illinois next year to take a tenured post. Simons’ wife, Kathy Richards, said her husband did not see tenure in his Harvard future, prompting the move.

The Marquand prize, first awarded this year, was the brainchild of Robert Aranow ’77. At Harvard, he became friends with John H. Marquand, the senior tutor of Dudley House and secretary of the Faculty and administrative board. When Marquand died of cancer in 1991, Aranow began raising $100,000 to create a prize in Marquand’s honor.

“His advice...had a profound effect on my life and on almost all of my friends’ lives,” Aranow said. “He was unique then, and I don’t know if there’s any one like him now.”

Dean of the College Harry R. Lewis ’68, who said he also knew Marquand well, said that while the senior tutor knew the majority of undergraduates by name, “He would tune into [individuals] in his warmly intense way.”

Both of this year’s Marquand prize-winner received a check for $1,500.

At the reception, Lewis and University President Lawrence H. Summers stressed the importance of advising.

In his speech, Summers said that one of his most important tasks as president was “to promote [advising as] the most important academic activity.”

“I could not think of a more important thing we could do for the students,” he said. “There is a particular importance to influence an individual in a direct and concrete way.”

But both Summers and Lewis acknowledged there was significant work still to be done.

“Advising needs a lot of improvement,” Lewis said.

Lewis said the biennial survey of seniors shows that Harvard advising is deficient.

“The picture the data will show is not a happy one,” he said. “It’s a great shame. I’m very glad to have some attention focused on the issue.”

While students crowded the winners to congratulate them, Summers warned that the competition will be far stiffer next year. He has taken on an advisee and is eligible for both the Faculty and non-Faculty categories. “I’m very competitive,” he quipped.