WWS grads Bell GS '64, Frist '74 to be honored with highest alumni awards

Wilson School graduates Peter Bell GS '64 and William Frist '74, will receive the highest alumni honors at Alumni Day, the University announced Friday.

Bell, president of Cooperative for American Relief Everywhere president, will receive the James Madison Medal award, an honor in recognition of an alumnus's achievements in community service, advancement of graduate education or his career.

Frist, a U.S. senator from Tennessee, will receive the Woodrow Wilson award, which is given to the alumnus whose career has best captured the spirit of the school's motto: "Princeton in the nation's service."

Frist and Bell attributed their success to their education at the Wilson School.

"My experience at the Woodrow Wilson School has been the foundation of my career ever since, and I think back on those two years as being tremendously informative," Bell said in an interview.

Frist similarly cited the University as a pivotal force in his dual career as senator and physician.

"At Princeton, I laid the foundation for later public service by bridging those four years between my premedical years with two years at the Woodrow Wilson School," Frist said. "That bridging of science and public policy, I've continued over the last 20 years as a physician and as senator."

After receiving his MPA in foreign relations from the University, Bell turned to a career in public service.

With Bell at the helm, CARE — a humanitarian aid organization that reaches 60 nations and millions of people each year — has expanded from only focusing on short-term aid to organizing projects that delve into the causes of poverty. The reduction of poverty has been central to his work in public service.

Before CARE, he was president of the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation for nine years, working to improve conditions for the destitute in the United States. Bell was also president of the Inter-American Foundation, where he worked to develop grassroots programs.

Within the political arena, Bell has served in the U.S. Department of Health, and the Department of Education and Welfare under President Carter's administration. He became deputy undersecretary in 1979, after managing a program for Indochinese refugee settlement.

Like Bell, Frist has devoted most of his career to public service.

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After earning an A.B. from Princeton, Frist went to Harvard Medical School to pursue a career as a heart and lung transplant surgeon. In 1986, he became a professor at Vanderbilt Medical Center where he created and led the Vanderbilt Transplant Center.

Frist's career took a political turn in 1994, when he was elected U.S. senator for Tennessee, becoming the first practicing physician in the Senate since 1928. He continued to break political ground when he was reelected in 2000 with the largest margin of victory in the history of his state.

He is the ranking member on the Subcommittee on Public Health and the Subcommittee on African Affairs and also is on the foreign relations, health, education, labor and pensions, and budget committee.

Despite his other accolades, Frist said he places the Woodrow Wilson Award high on the list.

"I regard it as the highest honor I've received as a public servant in my role as U.S. senator or as a heart transplant surgeon," Frist said.

Students were generally in favor of the University's decision to award Bell and Frist. However, some students were dissatisfied with the selection because they disagreed with Frist's political platforms.

"I think there are many more Princeton alumni who are deserving of this award," said Vincent Lloyd '03, a student activist. "I think it is important to consider his position on healthcare legislation in terms of using his status as a healthcare doctor to lend credibility to HMOs instead of a universal healthcare program that would insure everyone."

However, many students voiced their approval of the decision regardless of political considerations.

"It doesn't matter what their viewpoints, the award was given for the accomplishments that they made and therefore I think they are completely entitled to them," Eric Brown '05 said.

The award will be presented on Alumni Day on Feb. 22 and will feature lectures at Richardson Auditorium by both recipients. Bell's lecture is titled "Where the End of Poverty Begins" and Frist's speech is "The Floor of the U.S. Senate as the Operating Theater: Is Transplanting Ideas Any Different From Transplanting Hearts?"