A diplomatic representative typically travels back and forth between two countries, acting as a liaison between her home and a foreign land.
Called an "ambassador for Princeton" by Vice President for Finance and Administration Richard Spies GS '72, Vivian Shapiro has acted not only as an interface between the University and its community outside the college gates, but has also drawn upon the landscape of her own life to enrich the experiences and relationships of those with whom she has worked.
Classically dressed, sitting tall and poised with wavy hair gently framing her face and talking in a smooth and modulated, yet confident and assertive tone, Shapiro looks and sounds like she possesses a position of political prominence.
And yet she was quick to distinguish between both her University and professional positions — of which the latter is in the field of social work research — as well as her and her husband's positions, University President Harold Shapiro.
"I've always been careful to recognize my own role," said Vivian Shapiro. "Yes, I have added thoughts and suggestions but I never thought of myself as a first lady."
Shapiro made clear that she did not consider her primary identity to be that of a "president's wife," and modestly described her role at Princeton by quoting Woody Allen.
"Ninety-nine percent of life is showing up," she said.
But those who know Shapiro point not only to her presence but to her character and accomplishments as her legacy at the University.
"The rewarding part of working with Vivian is her humanity and her grace," said Robert Rawson Jr. '66, chair of the executive committee of the University Board of Trustees and of the presidential search committee, quoting an ode to the Shapiros by creative writing professor Paul Muldoon.
Two weekends ago, the trustees decided to name the Frist Campus Center cafe after Vivian as well as a walkway jointly named after Shapiro and her husband, for their work at the University.
"[Vivian] stands for uniting the various aspects of the University community, as does the cafe," said Rawson. "It embodies her spirit." And Rawson said naming the walkway seemed appropriate in light of Vivian Shapiro's concern for the campus environment.
Shapiro's involvement in the University stems not from a sense of obligation but from her personal and professional background.
"My husband and I have had a lifelong interest in the development of children and education," she said.
Shapiro earned a master's degree in social work from the University of Michigan in 1969, and soon after joined its faculty. After moving to Princeton, she worked as a researcher on the staff at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City, where she became interested in cross-cultural understanding in the therapeutic process after doing field-work with Hispanic immigrants.
From there Shapiro earned a doctoral degree from Smith College, writing a dissertation on the narratives of Russian immigrants. Her immigrant research acted as a segue into her study of adoption — which today crosses countries' borders. She currently runs a small clinical practice in Princeton.
Shapiro's investment in her own professional work, however, has made her efforts at the University all the more authentic.
"During the development campaign I put aside the extent of my clinical work and stopped teaching at Fordham," said Shapiro, noting that most people don't realize the intensity of scheduling involved in running a capital campaign.
"I wanted to participate with my husband because the goal was meaningful to me," she said, adding, "I wanted to support him in his effort."
And yet somehow, while on the road, representing the University to alumni around the world, she also found time to record her own research about the social and scientific changes in the formation of families. While leaving her mark with alumni in Asia and Europe, Shapiro planted her own stake in what she considers new territory in the land of biology and psychology. Her book — which she co-wrote with her daughter Janet Shapiro, a faculty member in the Graduate School of Social Work and Social Research at Bryn Mawr College and Isabel Paret, a clinical associate in the Department of Psychiatry in the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School — was published and well-received in March.
Smiling, Shapiro said she wished she had brought her calendar to show how many University events fill the pages of her planner.
"In any one week I must spend 20 hours involved in University events, and also planning those events," she said.
The events have included hosting thank-you dinners for those who helped with the campaign, creating an educational program for spouses of trustees, hosting breakfasts for students in her home and co-initiating an event on women leadership that addressed the kind of support that can be given to female alumni in the years after they graduate.
While Shapiro has cherished her time in an environment fraught with "vitality in the student body and vitality in the faculty," like all outgoing ambassadors are, she is eager to return to her personal life and take a break from her representative responsibilities.
This summer, the Shapiros will travel to London for three months, where they will be joined by their four daughters and 11 grandchildren. They will also work together on a book that looks at the history of how great universities develop their rare book collections.
Yet Vivian Shapiro added, laughing, that while she has always been involved in some kind of project, "[Harold and] I think now we'll take more vacations!"
With one personal addition, President Shapiro's words about his wife echoed those that Vivian herself had spoken, referring to her contributions to both her professional world, and the life of the University.
After boasting of the reviews his wife's new book has recently received, Shapiro said his wife's work "serves in part as a new role women have — as wife of a president or not."
At the University, Shapiro said Vivian has acted as an invaluable assistant in developing relationships with the enormous contingency of alumni, and as a resource for the University community — often approached by faculty, students and staff with questions or concerns.
"And finally," said Shapiro, "she's my most honest critic." Though Shapiro joked that he often finds it unpleasant to receive negative feedback, he said, "she makes it easy for me to do better."
In commenting on his wife's authenticity and responsiveness, Shapiro said, "Of course I realized all this 40 years ago."
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