December Newsletter and Calendar of Events

Upcoming Events

December 2011

* December 13th - Our annual Holiday Party, with a "Harvard 375" theme at the exclusive George C. Marshall Center/Hotel Tallyrand.

More Info: HarvardClub.fr

HCF ON THE WEB

MEMBERSHIP
Are you a member of the HCF? If not, join us today for good times and compelling events!

Throughout the 2011 - 2012 year Harvard will be featuring special events to celebrate its 375th Anniversary.

ATTN: HARVARD PROFS
If you have any connections with a Harvard professor, please let us know! Many of them travel to Paris and we would love to see if they might have availability to speak for us during their stay.

Harvard Mobile Web & iPhone Applications

Harvard has announced a University-wide initiative to deliver useful, usable, and mobile-appropriate content to the Harvard community locally and worldwide. To take advantage of this technology, go to m.harvard.edu, or download the Harvard app from the iPhone app store to see the latest news and campus information on your mobile phone.

More Advantages of being a Harvard Alumni

The Harvard Alumni Association is going to reward you for your Harvard Club of France membership!

As a member of the HCF, in 2011 you are eligible to receive Harvard Magazine at a significantly discounted annual subscription rate.

The annual subscription form is here. Register now (login required). If you need assistance please contact Harvard to initiate your individual annual subscription and continue receiving Harvard Magazine at your preferred address.

Discounted rates for International Harvard Club members are 54% off reg. subscription price: Regular annual subscription price (six issues): US $65
Harvard Club member price: US $30

Issue: # 14

December 2011

President's Welcome

Dear Friends and Fellow HCF Members,

Just one week left till the

Harvard Club of France's Annual Holiday Party

We hope you will join us on Dec. 13th for our Annual Holiday Party, a cocktail dinatoire. This will probably be the last opportunity for Club members and their friends to get together this year. Do not miss it!

There are strong chances that 2012 will be equally memorable as 2011 for the Harvard Club of France. Do check our website in the following few weeks as the Harvard Kennedy School French chapter is planning an exciting launch party for January with noted Professor Joseph Nye himself. After the successful launch of Harvard Women France last month, this is the start of a second interesting "chapter" in our organization. Let us not forget that we also have an excellent representative team on campus: do not hesitate to get in touch with them if you are ever in Cambridge.

January will be the beginning of a very political year in both France and the United States. I believe the presidential elections will be an opportunity to address top issues on both sides of the Atlantic. Please check out our Global Networking Night in late January with several prominent guests, including one of the best electoral experts at Harvard!

I wish all of you, as well as your families, a wonderful Holiday season, and look forward to celebrating with you at the Marshall Center.

Warm regards,

Philippe

Philippe Le Corre - President of the Harvard Club of France

France Amériques
9, Avenue Franklin Roosevelt, Paris
Web: http://www.harvardclub.fr/

Astronomy Professor Goodman ~ Seeing Science

Remember that Thomas Dolby song, "She blinded me with Science"? Well, on Wednesday, November 9th Harvard Astronomy Professor Alyssa Goodman blinded us with all sorts of science goodies. At the European Research Center, Prof. Goodman first took us through some old childhood portraits to demonstrate the concept of something so obvious it will hit you between the eyes. Next, to explain how different technologies are created to be used by others, she used the example of Google maps' API.

The goal, she posited, was to discover "how can we make digital tools better for our use." One answer was citing Michelle Borkin, a then-undergrad, who used medical imaging software (used for brain scans) for astronomical purposes--to see stars and clouds. It was the high-dimensional, spacial imaging, which is so helpful for medical purposes that now allows astronomers to use the same technology for their projects. This project, called the Astronomical Medicine Project, is one of Prof. Goodman's major work areas.

For her final official show-stopper Goodman showed us the links between Astronomy.net, Flickr and the Worldwide Telescope websites. [Examples: one, two] After the presentation, Goodman showed those who were interested a special 3D viewing using 3D glasses. It kept half the guests entertained for nearly half of the cocktail party. The other half nibbled on salty snacks provided by the HBS ERC and chatted with each other and some fellow astronomers of Prof. Goodman (some of which were former students). She "blinded" us with lots of fun examples and proved that Science can be as fun as it is important!
More on Prof. Goodman: http://projects.iq.harvard.edu/seamlessastronomy/
See all the PICTURES here! Read the full report here.

HCF-CES Summer Internships Abroad Program!

Dear Club members:

It may seem early to be thinking about next summer, but the Harvard Club of France and the Harvard Center for European Studies (CES) are already gearing up for our exciting new initiative to be launched in 2012: the HCF-CES Summer Internships Abroad Program. Together, HCF and CES will match Harvard undergraduates with alumni interested in sponsoring an internship. We hope that you will consider participating next summer by sponsoring a student intern at your own organization or business.

Why hire a Harvard student? In hiring a full-time summer intern you gain an additional staff member who can be assigned where need is greatest, while the intern gains an opportunity to acquire new skills and explore a career field. Harvard student interns in particular are bright, talented, curious, energetic, passionate about the work you do at your organization, and ready to work hard for you! The administrative work of finding an intern will be handled for you - CES takes care of advertising and recruitment, processes all the applications, and helps you choose the top candidate. The careful and rigorous selection process ensures that CES will send you the best of the best.

If you'd like to participate in the 2012 programme, begin by submitting to CES an Employer Agreement Form (download it from the Club website here). For a more detailed description of the programme and the selection process, as well as to read quotes from current alumni employers in France, please see this section of the HCF website or contact Christy Colburn, Grants & Internships Coordinator at CES. Please be aware that Employer Agreement Forms are due at CES by December 9, 2011.

CES welcomes internship proposals from all fields, including business, finance, consulting, marketing, computer science, philanthropy, and many more. If you can bridge to one of these organizations, please let us know.

Submit your Employer Agreement Form this week!

Thank you! - Christy Colburn, Grants & Internships Coordinator at CES


Stay tuned for information on our launch event in January!

* Official Launch event: The new Harvard Women France initiative officially launched with a very successful event on November 23, 2011. The alumnae sparkled in the spectacular Cercle de l'Union Interalliee, enjoying the atmosphere for the presentation and networking.

The roundtable "Pathways to Success: The Experiences of Harvard Women - Pitfalls, Challenges and Opportunities" was well received. Moderated by Renee Kaplan, Deputy Editorial Director France 24, we heard brief histories and tales from Martha Heitzmann, Areva's Director of Innovation who received the 2011 La Tribune's Women Award for Green Business and Anne-Claire Pache, Professor and Co-Founder of the Social Entrepreneurship Chair at ESSEC and of the NGO UnisCité. Gabriela Ramos, Chief of Staff of the Secretary-General of the OECD's closing remarks inspired everyone as we headed into the networking part of the evening.

Participants will also have the chance to get to know the HWF team, which is comprised of members from the HBSCF and HCF clubs. For more information, you can contact Christine Valentin at the HBSCF or Carine Barco at the HCF or visit their beautiful website. * Some pictures of the event are here. More will be posted soon.

* Women's Forum in Deauville: Report from Christine Valentin, Co-founder Harvard Women France: I went to my first Women's Forum in Deauville for three refreshing and motivating days and a great moment to mingle, network and learn from some of the most impressive women on this planet.

Emerging-country women were truly very inspiring and showed that the XXIst century will be theirs. On the other hand, women from emerged countries still need to struggle, especially in a time of crisis, to be able to reach the top of the "marzipan" layer or break the glass ceiling.

Some of the high points of this forum: the movie by Luc Besson on Aung San Suu Kyi, Shirin Ebadi's vision on the Arab spring, Viviane Reding's intervention on women on boards in Europe and Patti Bellinger, head of HBS executive education on quotas. Veronique Morali (the head of the forum) did a great job and was very interested in the Harvard Women France initiative. Who knows, maybe this will be an opportunity to join forces in 2012."

HCF on Campus The Harvard Club of France is alive and well in Cambridge. Our on-campus correspondent Alexandra Goujon pulled together a meet and mingle evening where HCF former president Sally Williams-Allen was able to participate.

Sally wrote: It was a fabulous success! Never at Harvard has the French community come together "si nombreux." There was a palpable buzz in the room of sheer enjoyment - everyone getting to know one other and having a great time. An evening event with wine and plenty of exquisite desserts was key, no doubt - à la française, après tout! In spite of the fact that it was mid-term week...

I was especially impressed with the calibre of these students: their brilliance, interests, talents, creativity, drive, generosity and goals, as well as their eagerness to be vital members of the Harvard community and to get the most out of their Harvard experience.

The French Consul was superb too, representing a vibrant consulat in Boston, and reminding all to vote and how to do it.

Alexandra was a marvelous organizer for this initiative: building a team, putting together the event, ensuring the presence of the Consul and Attache Culturel and the Executive Director of CES, and securing "sponsorship" with great refreshments. Above all, she greeted everyone so warmly and hosted with panache.

We can all be proud of this French success. Pictures here.

HCF Member Spotlight: Andrew Rosenbaum

Last week I had a lovely chat with Mr. Andrew Rosenbaum (Harvard College '78) who currently lives outside Bordeaux. A native of New Jersey, raised on Long Island, Andrew has lived in many places in Europe before settling down in Merignac.

Going to college in the 70s, is in some ways, a different experience than it is today. For instance, Andrew cites his favorite Harvard memory as the "naked dinners at Dudley Coop." Perhaps this still occurs, but at that time, the residents of the "Dudley Center for High Energy Metaphysics" would make dinners and dine "wearing only jewelry!" The Dudley Coop on Sacramento street is a little house for students who didn't want to live, for any number of reasons, in the regular houses. [You can read more about this interesting housing and its history here.]

After college Andrew and his first wife, both journalists, decided to move to Brussels for a while. His wife got transferred as a "Wall Street Journal" correspondent in Rome, where Andrew worked for the "Economist." When his wife took a job with the "International Herald Tribune," they moved to Paris and Andrew studied at Paris 3 for several years. The next job, at "Euro Money," was a career-changer for this English-major where he worked for about 8 years. He realized that as a financial journalist, and especially in this day and age, he could work from anywhere and still cover Europe. After his wife and he divorced he went to Amsterdam to work for "Time" magazine, met his "best wife," moved to Prague and then Kent, England. Four years ago Andrew was back in Paris where he took a job with Microsoft and wrote the Stocks column on MSNmoney. During the recession they laid off all content people, at which time he realized he had enough experience and clients to run his own company doing more corporate, high finance, technical writing for banks.

Having lived in several European cities, and being accustomed to life in France, Andrew and his wife decided to move somewhere not too far away from London (where most of his clients are) with great beaches and great wine. Bordeaux was a natural choice.

Andrew's favorite moment Bordeaux thus far is a diner at the Chateau Cheval Blanc and in 2011 the Vin Expo where he tasted things he normally could never buy. Other than wine-related things, Andrew spends his leisure time attending football matches for the Girondins with his son, who is a big football fan and player.

The positive experience Andrew had with fellow alumni at the HCUK led him naturally to want to join the HCF. He was active with other alumni in the UK and remembers how getting together, while not often, was a nice thing. He also likes to give a little something back to the school, so when he came to France it was a natural thing to do.

While not in Paris as much as he would like, Andrew says his favorite HCF memory thus far are the remarks of the president in our newsletter, the publications, and keeping in touch from afar.