In December President Barack Obama nominated Democrat JEREMY STEIN ’83, top, a Harvard economist, and Republican JEROME “JAY” POWELL ’75, a former financial executive, to the board of the Federal Reserve. Stein, who teaches finance at Harvard, took a leave in 2009 to advise Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and serve on the National Economic Council. Powell, a visiting scholar at the Bipartisan Policy Center, served as undersecretary of the treasury for finance under President George H.W. Bush. ... Two alumni were recognized by New York Times columnist David Brooks with 2011 Sidney Awards for their magazine essays: PETER HESSLER ’92, for his New Yorker essay, “Dr. Don: The life of a small-town druggist,” and ALAN LIGHTMAN ’70 for “The accidental universe: Science’s crisis of faith,” in Harper’s.