"He is the embodiment of the Protestant work ethic par excellence," says fifth-year graduate student Linda Kern, who was a teaching fellow in Graham's Scriptures and Classics course. "He loves to work and gives an incredible amount of time to his work."

Barbara Graham is currently working on a project to help bring the Harvard College Library up to date with the latest information technology. She is also looking at how computers within universities have changed the way scholars approach to research and publishing.

Constant Activity

One of Bill Graham's advisees, second-year Ph.D. candidate Patrice Brodeur, says he is amazed that his professor is able to keep up with such a hectic schedule.

But Bill Graham explains that his constant activity is part of his nature. "We're not either one of us people to sit still for very long," he says.

In addition to his academic work, Bill Graham, an avid mountain climber, sponsors the Harvard Mountaineering Club.

The Grahams have climbed together in the Alps, but they also participate in more down-to-earth athletics, like running. Bill Graham has run the Boston Marathon--though not recently, he says. And the couple frequently goes for early morning workouts at the Harvard stadium, as early as 6 a.m.

"We like the outdoors a great deal," Bill Graham says. "Our consuming hobby has become a small child. But he's already climbed his first mountain, so we're rapidly combining the old and the new."

The Grahams have found other ways to involve their son in their physically active lives. Program Administrator of the Committee for the Study of Religion Clifford A. Brown, who works with Bill Graham, says he remembers his colleague running up stadium steps with his baby on his back.

Powell, too, has a seemingly boundless supply of energy, his parents say.

"He's sprite-like," Barbara Graham says, calling her son "quite gregarious and at the moment quite talkative."

"He makes us look a little slow," Bill Graham adds.

Harvard Background

No stranger to the house system, Bill Graham served as senior tutor of Winthrop House in the mid-1970s. He says he's very fond of Harvard's residential system.

"For three years, people live and work together out of the same environment," he says. "With this system, you get more of the advantage of a small liberal arts college."