Alumni Day to honor keynote speakers Nye '58, Shapiro GS '64

More than 1200 alumni, their families and guests are expected to attend Saturday's annual Alumni Day.

"[Alumni Day] is a celebration of the academic side of the University. It gives the alumni an opportunity to hear lectures from our most esteemed faculty . . . we try to give back to the alumni as much as possible [in terms of lectures] and also to their families," Margaret Miller '80, director of the alumni council, said.

Harold Shapiro GS '64 and Joseph Nye Jr. '58, recipients of Princeton's highest alumni awards, will give keynote addresses as part of the day's events coordinated by the Alumni Council.

Nye, who is dean of the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, will receive the Woodrow Wilson Award, which is the highest honor given to an undergraduate alumnus.

His lecture, titled "Soft Power and the War on Terrorism," will draw on his new book, "Soft Power: The Means to Success in World Politics," to be released next month. He will discuss how the U.S. should go about using both soft and hard power in the ongoing war.

"Soft power is a term I coined a decade or so ago, and it is beginning to get some currency. Soft power is influencing people by attracting them to our culture," Nye said.

In contrast, hard power is the military and economic strength the U.S. holds, he said.

Nye said his speech will draw on both his academic career and his experiences as deputy to the Under secretary of State, chairman of National Intelligence Council and Assistant Secretary of Defense.

The Wilson Award "means a great deal to me because I have a very warm spot in my heart for Princeton," he said. "I feel the quality of the undergraduate education I received at Princeton was first rate and was essential to what I have been able to accomplish in life."

Shapiro, who earned his Ph.D. in economics from Princeton and served as the president of the University from 1988 to 2001, is the recipient of the James Madison Medal. The medal is given each year to an alumnus or alumna of the Graduate School who has had a distinguished career, advanced the cause of graduate education or achieved an outstanding record of public service.

He will deliver a speech entitled, "Toward a More General Purpose: Higher Education and Society – Non Nobis Solum (Not for Ourselves Alone)."

In addition to the two prize winners' speeches, Alumni Day will also feature lectures delivered by other Princeton faculty members. Brian Kernighan GS '69, professor of computer science, will reprise his address from the freshman assembly at the beginning of the year – "D is for Digital and Why it Matters."

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Daniel Kahneman, who won the Nobel Prize for economics in 2002, and David Spergel '82, professor of astrophysical sciences, are also scheduled to speak. These lectures are open to students, faculty and staff.

Another Nobel Prize winner, Toni Morrison, will read from her new novel, Love, later in the afternoon. Besides the other events planned through the day, the afternoon will end with a service of remembrance in the University Chapel, to honor deceased alumni, faculty and staff of Princeton.

Alumni like John Hockenberry '69 are looking forward to Saturday. "Everybody who went to school at Princeton looks forward to an opportunity to come back to the campus, to attend some lectures, to engage again in the intellectual stimulation we had as undergraduates. It also gives us an opportunity to feel younger," he said.