In a typical week at Harvard College, Michael M. Lynton ’82, who graduated from Harvard Business School in ’87, split his time between discussing classical literature on the steps of Claverly Hall, designing sets for campus productions at the Loeb Theater, and relaxing at the A.D. Club.

The “enormous versatility” that his college friends, many of whom he still keeps in touch with, said they admired has stayed with Lynton in his current position as chief executive officer of the Sony Corporation of America and chairman and chief executive officer of Sony Pictures Entertainment.

Lynton has maintained not only the relationships he made with individuals at Harvard, but also with the greater University. Currently a candidate for the Harvard Board of Overseers, Lynton said that there came a time when he wanted to give back to the University.

“There’s a point at which you get nostalgic,” Lynton said.

Devoted to both his academics and ever expanding social network, Lynton has drawn upon his internationally minded attitude, charismatic personality, and passion for business to become a leader within the technology and entertainment industries.

THE VERSATILE INTELLECTUAL

At the College, Lynton concentrated in history and literature, exploring his passion for English and American classics.

Carroll R. Bogert ’83 said that Lynton was an anomaly when it came to Harvard houses—each defined by a distinct stereotype in past decades. Lynton, a member of the rugby and ski teams, chose to live in Kirkland House, what was then seen as the “jock house.”

However, Bogert said that Lynton did not let the sports he played define him, as he still was very much an “intellectual.”

After studying at an international school in Holland, where his parents lived after fleeing Nazi Germany, Lynton transferred to Phillips Exeter Academy for his senior year of high school.

It was there that he met Michael D. Guttentag ’82, who said that Lynton’s image as a “learned, wise, scholarly type” was evident even in high school.

David J. Goldhill ’82, one of Lynton’s roommates, remembered when Lynton attended every class he could during the first weeks of the semester.

“He would come back to the room and say, ‘I just listened to the most fascinating lecture.’ I would tell him, ‘You know you’re never going to take those classes.’ And he knew, but he just enjoyed listening to as many intellectuals as he could,” Goldhill said.

THE COLLEGE SOCIALITE

When Lynton arrived at Harvard in the fall of 1978, Christopher M. Kramer ’82, one of Lynton’s freshman year roommates, said that Lynton did not fit the image he had imagined and instead was more of a “New Yorker” at heart.