Sign of the 'Times': New owner of the Jets is no alum

Princeton students and alumni who picked up the Jan. 12 edition of The New York Times encountered a big surprise. An article announced the sale of the NFL's New York Jets to Princeton alum Robert Wood Johnson IV, heir to the Johnson & Johnson family fortune.

Johnson, whose grandfather was the former chairman of Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceuticals, runs several philanthropic foundations in New Jersey. But until Jan. 12, not even he knew he went to Princeton.

Given Johnson's past philanthropic efforts, it seemed reasonable to expect some similar beneficence was in the works for his alma mater. Would he provide funding for the next state-of-the-art academic building? Or would his special interest in football encourage him to support the near-comatose Tiger gridiron squad?

Apparently the answer is no.

A search of the University's alumni database failed to list Johnson as a Princeton graduate, Cheryl Morris of the Alumni Records Office said. "We don't have anything on the system — not a Robert Wood Johnson IV," she said.

Johnson is a graduate of the University of Arizona, according to Lisa Sieberg of Sucherman Consulting Group, the firm handling Johnson's public relations.