Young Grads Top Swing's List

Three Harvard graduates are among the 30 most powerful twentysomethings in America, according to the January issue of Swing magazine.

Eric M. Mindich '88, the head of risk arbitrage at Goldman, Sachs & Co., Ben Waldman '89, the manager of Macintosh Technology for Microsoft, and Professor of Mathematics Noam D. Elkies '87 were the Harvard alumni who made the list.

Swing editors "scoured the nation for leaders in every area of influence--politics, business, entertainment, technology, media and the sciences," according to a press release. "The future of our country largely depends on those young people who have the ability to change the landscape of today's society."

The January issue will hit news-stands tomorrow.

"I always liked Excel at college," Waldman said of his days at Harvard. "But I never thought in a few years I'd be running the program!"

Waldman, who interned at Microsoft after his junior year at Harvard, is now one of the company's primary creative forces in charge of developing technology for the Macintosh.

Mindich, according to Swing, promises to be the next Secretary of the Treasury Robert E. Rubin '60. At 28, he is the youngest partner ever at Goldman, Sachs & Co., one of the world's most prestigious investment banks. Rubin headed Goldman, Sachs before entering the Clinton administration.

Twenty-nine year old professor Elkies is the youngest professor ever granted tenure by Harvard. At the age of 20, he gained celebrity by contributed to unraveling the mystery of Fermat's last theorem, a problem which had baffled mathematicians for more than 200 years.

Now, Elkies's work is so secret that he can't even talk about it, according to Swing. But every day, the technology he helped develop touches thousands of people, through the innovations behind automatic teller machines, faxes and other machines.

This year at Harvard Elkies, who could not be reached for comment yesterday, is teaching three math courses in subjects including advanced, honors multivariable calculus.

Non-Harvard alums who made Swing's who's who of the twentysomething set includes Dodgers pitching phenomenon Hideo Norns actress Alicia Silverstone and rapper Snoop Doggy Dogg.