Joseph Nye '58, dean of the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and University president emeritus Harold Shapiro GS '64 will be honored by the University on Alumni Day next February for their professional accomplishments.
On Feb. 21, 2004, Nye will be given the Woodrow Wilson Award for his work in academics and public service. Shapiro will be awarded the James Madison Medal for his lifetime of work in college education and administration.
Nye
Nye, one of the nation's foremost international policy experts, never suffered from a lack of activities while at Princeton. Aside from writing a column for 'The Prince,' he also worked for campus radio WPRB, fenced and was an officer for the Colonial Club.
Nye also excelled in academics at the University. He won the prize for the best thesis in the Wilson School for his work in applying Schumpeter's theory of opportunistic entrepreneurship to a case study.
"I was interested in the intersection of policy and economics," Nye said.
A Rhodes Scholar, Nye studied at Oxford University for two years before earning his Ph.D. in political science at Harvard. After graduating in 1964, he then went on to teach at his graduate alma mater.
However, Nye also had a distinguished career in public service under two different presidents.
Under President Carter's administration, Nye served as deputy to the under secretary of state for security assistance, science and technology and chaired the National Security Council Group on Nonproliferation of Nuclear Weapons.
He served again under President Clinton, preparing intelligence estimates for the president as chairman of the National Intelligence Council from 1993-1994. Later in the same administration, Nye served as assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs.
Nye received awards for distinguished service to the country following each of his three tenures in government.
"I returned to Harvard at the end of 1995 to become dean of Kennedy School where I've been for the last eight years," Nye said. "During that time, the Kennedy school endowment more than doubled, faculty increased by 40 percent . . . it's been a period of considerable growth."
Nye has also penned several award-winning books, the most recent titled, "The Paradox of American Power: Why the World's Only Superpower Can't Go It Alone."
Though he has accomplished much in public service and academia, Nye still remembers his Princeton roots.
"This award means a great deal to me. Princeton means a great deal," Nye added. "I received an excellent education and still have warm feelings for Princeton."
Shapiro
As president of the University, Shapiro spearheaded the diversification of Princeton's campus, increased fundraising efforts and answered Woodrow Wilson's famous call to public service. It was Shapiro who expanded the University's original motto, "Princeton in the Nation's Service" to include "and in the Service of All Nations" at the University's 250th anniversary celebration in 1996.
But Princeton was not always Shapiro's first priority in life.
"I did my Ph.D. in three years and was just anxious to get on to a paying job," Shapiro said. "I devoted myself full-time to academics and my family and children."
An undergraduate at McGill University, Shapiro entered Princeton's graduate school in 1961, concentrating on economics. After graduating in 1964, he joined the faculty of the University of Michigan. Shortly thereafter, in 1980, Shapiro became president of the University of Michigan.
And in 1988, Shapiro was voted to Princeton's helm.
Though not an administrator since 2001, Shapiro never fully retired from teaching. While still maintaining an active thesis advising schedule, he also teaches two Wilson School classes on bioethics this semester.
The James Madison Medal was created to recognize a University graduate school alumnus who has "had a distinguished career, advanced the cause of graduate education or achieved an outstanding record of public service," according to the University website.
The Woodrow Wilson Award is given to a graduate who epitomizes the former Princeton president's call to duty in his speech, "Princeton in the Nation's Service."
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