At 71, he earns his third degree
This is one in a series of profiles showcasing some of Harvard’s stellar graduates. As a boy in the early 1950s, Henry S. Hacker would hop on his bicycle with a 50-cent piece burning in one pocket and set off in search of baseball cards to buy. Collecting in general became his lifelong passion and avocation, running like a thread though successful careers in law, finance, and marketing. Along the way, Hacker, now 71, also collected a bachelor’s degree at Yale University and a J.D. at Cornell. Now he is getting his third sheepskin, a master of liberal arts (A.L.M.) in museum studies from the Harvard Extension School. In 2008, after 40 years in or near New York, and with his three children grown, Hacker partly retired and moved to Cambridge, easing a transition back to the classroom. Back then, he asked himself, “What would I do if I don’t go to...