Two alumni who have impacted their communities will receive Alumni Day awards in February, the University announced last week.
John Rogers '80, of Chicago-based mutual fund firm Ariel Capital Management, will receive the Woodrow Wilson Award, while Lawrence Goldman GS '69, the president and CEO of the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC), will receive the James Madison Medal.
Rogers is chairman, CEO and CIO of Ariel, which he founded in 1983. He is the first African American to win the Woodrow Wilson Award, and said that he is "proud and excited" to be honored, adding that he "had to read the letter a couple times" before it sank in. He was an economics major and captain of the basketball team.
The fund manages $15.5 billion in assets, but Rogers has also focused on socially responsible investing and community service. Ariel created a charter school in Chicago, and Rogers has been active in fundraising for Project Vote, a registration initiative for African-American voters, which was once headed by Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.).
Nolan McCarty, interim dean of the Wilson School and a member of the selection committee for the Wilson Award, praised Rogers' accomplishments. "It would be hard to find a more appropriate choice [for the award] than John Rogers," McCarty said in an email. "Not only did he create the largest minority-owned mutual fund, but he's been an extraordinary civic leader in Chicago and the African-American community. Once his name was put in play, we never really considered giving the award to anyone else."
Rogers also served as a University trustee from 1990 to 1994.
The Madison Medal winner, Lawrence Goldman, earned graduate degrees from the Wilson School in 1969 and 1976. He started work with NJPAC in 1989 and is credited with helping to revitalize downtown Newark.
Goldman has stayed close with the University and has lectured at the Wilson School. He is also on the boards of Beth Israel Medical Center in New York and the New Jersey chapter of Teach for America, founded by Wendy Kopp '89.
The awards are named in honor of the two U.S. presidents who graduated from the University.
The Wilson Award is given annually to a Princeton graduate who lives up to the University's unofficial motto, "In the Nation's Service," which was conceived by former University president Woodrow Wilson, Class of 1879. Established in 1956 by an anonymous donor, the prize is chosen by a panel composed of the chair of the Alumni Council, the president of the national Wilson Foundation and the dean of the Wilson School.
The Madison Medal — named after James Madison, Class of 1771 — is given annually to a graduate school alumnus who has an accomplished career, supported graduate education or a distinguished record of public service. The award was launched in 1973 by the Association of Princeton Graduate Alumni, which selects winners in conjunction with the Madison Medal Selection Committee.
Rogers and Goldman will collect their awards and give addresses on Feb. 23 during Alumni Day festivities.
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