Harvard Club of Philadelphia

President's Message . . .  

September 12, 2025

Dear Harvard Alumni, Families, and Community,

I am honored to serve as President for the Harvard Club of Philadelphia (HCP), 2025-2027, along with Executive Committee members Becky Wald Thomas, AB '07 Vice President, Jenna McNeill, AB '95 Secretary, and Varghese Thomas, ALM '19 Treasurer.

I attended my first HCP events in the mid 1990s while a graduate student at the University of Pennsylvania. I particularly recall an evening event overlooking Independence Mall, and a story shared by an animated alumnus about a trip with his daughter to Rome, strolling the Via Condotti, and driving an Alfa Romeo convertible. This impression now seems like a scene from a movie!

Yes, HCP is where you can have collegial and memorable conversations, find familiar faces and make new acquaintances, enjoy social, cultural, educational, and community events, engage with speakers, explore the treasures of the Philadelphia region, volunteer as an interviewer for admissions candidates to Harvard College, donate to our Scholarship Fund and Prize Book programs, and Sponsor special events!

HCP is also a place to find engagement with: regional Harvard clubs / communities, like Harrisburg, Delaware, Princeton, and HBS, with nonprofits like The Independence Historical Trust, The Curtis Institute, and The Wayne Art Center, and with local leaders like John Middleton of The Philadelphia Phillies, Josh Harris of The Philadelphia 76ers, and Debbie Morton of Morton Contemporary Gallery!

In addition, we also extend and enjoy invitations for collegial interactions and programs with alumni from other universities, including All Ivy: Penn/Wharton, Yale, Princeton, Brown, Columbia, Dartmouth, Cornell, and Stanford, Carnegie Mellon, Oxford, Cambridge, Johns Hopkins, MIT, UVA, Swarthmore, etc.

The HCP Board of Directors and committee members all serve as volunteers to our HCP community. We are eager to continue to build upon the service that our past leaders have dedicated to HCP and Harvard. And we look forward to hearing your program ideas and thoughts for our community. 

So, What’s next at HCP?

2026 is a momentous year in the history of Philadelphia and the United States of America, as it marks the 250th, the semiquincentennial, commemorating the signing of The Declaration of Independence. In recognition of this upcoming anniversary we are planning multiple special events (2025-2027) to celebrate this milestone, highlighting the Philadelphia region’s significant role in the founding of this new nation. 

We begin this season with several compelling events and then a very special Fall Opener at the Museum of the American Revolution, 10-7-25!

We look forward to seeing you there!

And we also look forward to your membership application or renewal as these modest club dues support our programming and community giving.

Sincerely,

Justin D. Richardson Martino, AB '91

President, Harvard Club of Philadelphia

Join or Renew Your Membership Today!!!!