In 2000, Kalman and Kusuma Narayan endowed The Navin Narayan Memorial Lecture in honor of their late son, Social Studies concentrator, Navin Narayan.
Narayan was a remarkable and accomplished young man. From age 14, he worked with the Red Cross, rising to chair one of its national committees and advising then-director Elizabeth Dole. As a concentrator, Narayan conducted field work in India for his senior thesis, graduating summa cum laude, winning a Rhodes Scholarship, and gaining admission to Harvard Medical School.
In addition to this endowed Lecture, the American Red Cross established the Navin Narayan Scholarship which is granted "to exceptional graduating high school seniors who show high academic competence and ambition, longevity and dedication to the American Red Cross, and leadership in their respective positions."
The Narayan Lecture traditionally has been held each October at Adams House, and is open to the public. For additional information, please contact the Department at (617) 495-2163.
Past lectures include:
2022-2023
Brad DeLong
Professor of Economics, UC Berkeley
"Social Theory for the 21st Century"
2019-2020
Sarah Lewis
Associate Professor of History of Art and Architecture and African and African American Studies, Harvard University
"Race and the American Landscape: Visual Tactics of the Stand Your Ground Era"
2018-19
Arlie Hochschild
Professor Emerita, UC Berkeley
"Strangers in Their Own Land: The Way Forward"
2017-18
Robert Putnam
Peter and Isabel Malkin Professor of Public Policy, Harvard University
"How Did We Get Here? Social Change in America, 1900-2020"
2016-17
E.J. Dionne
Brookings Institution Senior Fellow
Washington Post Columnist
"Defending Democracy in an Age of Disaffection"