In Memoriam: Patricia McLaughlin

Patricia (Pat) McLaughlin, our beloved colleague and friend at the Center since 2001, passed away in February after a brief illness. Hired as Faculty Assistant to John Holdren, Co-Director of the Center’s Science, Technology, and Public Policy Program (STPP) nearly 20 years ago, she continued to work with STPP and with John until her illness.

When John relocated to Washington, D.C. in 2009 to serve as President Obama’s Science Advisor, Pat joined him for a year as his assistant in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy where she was as highly regarded and well liked as she was at the Center. Pat was, John said, “whip smart, computer savvy, deeply knowledgeable about and committed to public issues and environmental causes, with a great sense of humor and superb people skills. I will miss her terribly, as will all who knew and worked with her,” he said.

Pat was named a Harvard Hero in 2008, a prestigious honor for “outstanding employees” at Harvard University. At the Belfer Center, she received the Peggy Scannell Award for Excellence, for her “outstanding contributions to the Center and to the environment in which we work.” Around Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) and the Belfer Center, she was a delightful colleague much-loved by her fellow staff members, faculty, and others at the Kennedy School, and by the research fellows from around the world whom she mentored, befriended, and helped in many ways.

Since Pat’s loss became known, those who knew her at Harvard and beyond have shared their stories of her special meaning to them. Kaveri Iychettira, one of the research fellows with whom Pat worked, expressed the feelings of many: “There was never a time when I left a meeting with her without a smile on my face—her warmth and kindness were pure sunshine to me.” We all miss Pat greatly.