President Shapiro to endow academic award

The University strives to instill an ethic of diligence and excellence within the community. President Shapiro and his wife, Vivian, have recently become even more active contributors to this effort by presenting a gift to the University that will endow an annual award for outstanding academic achievement by firstand second-year students.

"We wanted to recognize the academic achievements of many students during their first two years at Princeton," Shapiro explained. Shapiro said he feels the idea of rewarding meritorious performance at an early stage in the undergraduate education will benefit and motivate the community.

"Learning is at the heart of all that we aspire to do at Princeton and early recognition of this seemed like a useful thing for the University," he said.

Other academic officials said they felt similarly about rewarding excellence at an early point in students' college careers. "As director of studies, I was of course delighted when President Shapiro first announced the award," said Steven Lestition, director of studies for Mathey College.

Lestition said he has observed that the first few undergraduate years tend to be overlooked or taken for granted and that the new award will help to rectify this oversight.

"A lot of hard work, inspiration and talent stands behind those achievements and it's great that President Shapiro came up with a very nice way of honoring students," Lestition said.

Vice President for Development Van Zandt Williams '65 also said he thinks the gift will have a very positive impact on the University.

"It's wonderful to have this prize endowed in perpetuity and especially fitting that the Shapiros have associated their name with it," he said. "We're very grateful."

What is currently known as the President's Award for Academic Excellence will be renamed the Shapiro Prize for Academic Excellence.

The award was established in 1998. Over the summer, students are chosen after careful review of their academic records — taking into account the range, depth and difficulty of their accomplishments. Students are recommended for the prize by the directors of studies and by small committees of faculty members associated with each residential college. In addition, the deans in the Office of the Dean of the College must endorse each candidate.

In the fall a celebratory banquet hosted by the president honors award recipients. Each student is presented with a book written by a Princeton faculty member featuring a special bookplate to commemorate his prize.

"This award symbolizes the high value we attach to academic excellence — not simply high achievement, as important as that is, but a deep and genuine engagement in learning, an eagerness to stretch and challenge oneself to get the most out of undergraduate education at Princeton," said Dean of the College Nancy Malkiel. "In a community that cares so much about the intellectual enterprise, no award could be more meaningful."

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Shapiro offered one final, personal reason for his donation.

"We also made this modest gift," Shapiro said, "because we wanted to join with so many other Princetonians to do what we could to sustain this University for the next generation of students."