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 is 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:
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"
2015-16
Peniel E. Joseph
Barbara Jordan Chair in Politics and Ethics at the LBJ School of Public Affairs
Professor of History at The University of Texas at Austin
"From Selma to Ferguson: Civil Rights, Black Power, and Racial Justice in the Age of Obama and Black Lives Matter"
2014-15
Martha Minow
Morgan and Helen Chu Dean and Professor of Law, Harvard Law School
"Justice and Debt Forgiveness"