Lee Mitchell
Butler College
In searching for a new master of Butler College, University deans Kathleen Deignan and Nancy Malkiel conducted years of interviews with numerous candidates.
They sought someone who is "deeply committed to undergraduate education," has a good track record and cares about students, said Malkiel, dean of the college.
After completing the process, they decided on Lee Mitchell, the Holmes Professor of Belles-Lettres in the Department of English. He started his new job on July 1.
At the time of the appointment, Mitchell said he was "delighted" when he heard the news.
Mitchell said "the feeling is very pleasant."
Deignan and Malkiel had to sort through a bank of candidates who went through numerous interviews with both deans, and many factors went into choosing the right person. The two deans had to consider each person's personal lives, level of interest and availability.
The previous master of Butler College, Ted Champlin, said he has mixed emotions about leaving his position after eight years.
"It's been fun," Champlin said, but he also admitted that a mastership is "rather tiring."
Leaving his position, he hopes to focus more on his teaching career and reconnect with the larger student body. A humanities professor, Champlin teaches courses in Roman history and culture.
Champlin said he has great confidence in his successor. Mitchell helped Champlin with RA selections in January, to help create a smooth transition between the two masterships.
Mitchell said he will try to emulate Champlin, who he says "has clearly done a wonderful, effective, great job."
Despite mixed feelings about leaving his position, Champlin said he is assured that the reins will be in good hands.
Andrea La Paugh
Forbes College
Computer science professor Andrea La Paugh will be master of Forbes College this fall for the fourth year in a row.
When first starting at Fobes, La Paugh said she was looking forward to the challenges of being a college master, but she remained somewhat nervous about the new position.
"It's something one has to consider very carefully. I had to be very careful because it's a big commitment for me and for the students in Forbes," she said.
Despite her anxiety, La Paugh said she is definitely eager to begin. "When I thought about doing it, I got really excited," she said. "I have an excellent staff who really know how the college runs. There's plenty of guidance and experience."
She graduated from Cornell University in 1974 and received an M.S. in 1977 and a Ph.D. in 1980 from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She taught at Brown University for a year before she came to Princeton in 1981.
At Princeton, La Paugh has taught COS 111: Computers and Computing and COS 425: Database Systems, as well as several graduate-level courses on digital information access. She specializes in computer-aided design of digital systems and also serves as associate chair of the department.
"To become a master you really have to be prepared to be really involved in the college life," she said. "It's a very strong tradition that the master entertain advisees, and that means it's not just something that I do on my own. It's something that comes into my home and my family."
Antoine Kahn
Mathey College
Antoine Kahn is Master of Mathey College. Born in Metz, France, Kahn received his Ph.D. in electrical engineering from the University in 1978. Following a year of postdoctoral work at Princeton and Stanford, he joined the faculty of the Department of Electrical Engineering, and he was promoted to the rank of professor in 1991. He now has taught undergraduate and graduate courses at Princeton for 21 years. He served as associate dean of the faculty at the University from 1992 to 1995. The author of more than 200 publications, his research interests include atomic geometry, semiconductor surfaces and interfaces. During the past five years, his research has emphasized inorganic wide band gap semiconductors and organic molecular solids. He received a graduate fellowship from the French government from 1974-75 and, in 1984, was a recipient of a five-year National Science Foundation Presidential Young Investigator Award. He was elected Fellow of the American Vacuum Society in 1999 and is a member of the American Physical Society and the American Vacuum Society. He was the general chair of the International Conference on the Formation of Semiconductor Interfaces in 1995, and of the International Conference on Solid Films and Surfaces in 2000.
Maria DiBattista
Rockefeller College
English professor Maria DiBattista will begin the fourth year of her term as master of Rockefeller College this fall. Before she took the role, Germanic languages and literature professor Michael Jennings held it.
"I was actually acting master when Mike Jennings went on leave several years ago, and that was kind of scouting the territory," she said. "Given my interest in women's studies and language, it will be very interesting to see how the mastership is redefined or readapted by a female head."
DiBattista said the position of master has intrigued her for a long time.
"Obviously it's going to be a relationship that's going to have to evolve because I don't really think there's that much precedence," she said.
A graduate of Stanford University, DiBattista came to Princeton in 1974. She has taught a variety of classes on literature, film and poetry. "My primary love has always been the novel," she said.
DiBattista has also recently published a book, "Fast-Talking Dames," about Hollywood's leading ladies of the '30s and '40s, such as Jean Harlo and Greta Garbo. The book stemmed from a course DiBattista taught years ago on women in film.
DiBattista said she plans to take advantage of her new position's perspective on college life.
"Life here outside the classroom has different kinds of challenges just because of the whole social demeanor of the place, the social reputation of the place," she said. "I want to see how much difference there is between reputation and actuality."
DiBattista said she thinks one of the most important roles of a college master is to make students feel comfortable at the University by encouraging "a rich extracurricular life with things like film and drama and anything on the artistic side." She said she also looks forward to doing community work with students.
DiBattista said she is especially enthusiastic about working with freshmen.
"One of the things that really prompted me to take this job, even though I really feel like it's unknown territory, is that I so loved teaching [a] freshman seminar," she said.
Miguel Centeno
Wilson College
Associate Professor of Sociology Miguel Centeno describes his job as master of Wilson College as "a little like simultaneously running a 500-person seminar and a medium-size hotel."
"Sometimes I get to teach the students something, other times I make sure their rooms work and, rarely, I have to remind them to be civilized," he said.
Centeno took over as master of Wilson in July 1997 and this will be his last in that position.
Though he explained that his job has its drawbacks — namely dealing with student "escapades" — he enjoys the opportunity to get to know more students on a social as well as an intellectual level.
"On the plus side, you also get to know a few [students], maybe 50 per year, very well and sometimes even have an impact on their lives," he said.
"My only complaint," he added, "is that students seem reluctant to make use of the opportunities for faculty contact. I would love it if a few more sat down with my family and me at meals."
Centeno joined the sociology department in 1990 and has taught a variety of courses, including freshman seminars. In 1997, he won the University's Presidential Teaching Prize.
He is the author of two books — "Mexico in the 1990s" and "Democracy within Reason: Technocratic Revolution in Mexico" — and is the editor of one. He also has written more than a dozen journal articles and book chapters.
Centeno received a Ph.D. in sociology, an M.B.A. and a B.A. in history from Yale University. — Princetonian Staff
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