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Christopher Cavoli ’87 and Robert Kahn GS ’64 win prestigious alumni awards

Alumni day words
Robert Kahn GS ’64 and Gen. Christopher Cavoli ’87
Robert Kahn, Liz Hafalia/San Francisco Chronicle via AP, Christopher Cavoli, Karsten Klama/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images

On Nov. 2, the University announced the recipients of its most prestigious awards for alumni, with Christopher Cavoli ’87 receiving the Woodrow Wilson Award and Robert Kahn GS ’64 set to receive the James Madison Medal. 

The Woodrow Wilson Award is awarded annually to an undergraduate alum who embodies the first portion of the University’s unofficial motto, coined by Wilson: “Princeton in the nation’s service.”

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The James Madison Medal is awarded by the Association of Princeton Graduate Alumni (APGA) to an alum of the Graduate School who has had “a distinguished career, advanced the cause of graduate education or achieved a record of outstanding public service,” according to the Alumni Association website.

Cavoli is a four-star general and the current head of the U.S. European Command, the American military arm in Europe. He is also the Supreme Allied Commander in Europe, overseeing military operations and engagement for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). He began serving in these roles in July, five months after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Prior to these roles, the general served in a variety of positions in combat and peacekeeping missions, including in Herat, Afghanistan. He joined the Army the same year he graduated from the University with a degree in biology.

In the press release announcing the awards, University President Christopher L. Eisgruber ’83 described Cavoli’s “courage and integrity.”

“His dedication to defending democracy around the world exemplifies alumni service to the nation and to humanity,” he said. 

Cavoli did not respond to a request for comment in time for publication.

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Kahn, the James Madison Medalist, helped lay the groundwork for the method by which data is transmitted between computers. Known today as TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol and Internet Protocol), this invention is one of the principal mechanisms by which the Internet works today.

Kahn is currently the chairman, CEO, and president of the Corporation for National Research Initiatives, a nonprofit that funds research and development of the Internet. Along with Cerf, he received the Turing Award in 2004, often referred to as the “Nobel Prize of Computing.” 

In 2007, he established a professorship in the Princeton Department of Computer Science, currently held by Michael Freedman. Kahn earned a master’s degree in 1962 and a PhD in 1964 from the University, both in electrical engineering.

In an email to The Daily Princetonian, Kahn described how his time at the University impacted him. 

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“It was a breath of fresh air,” he wrote. “Princeton taught me to think more broadly than ever before. In particular, it provided the perspective I needed to contemplate designing and then helping to develop advanced computer networks, including (in particular) the basic Internet protocols.”

“Robert’s scientific contributions have shaped the internet, and his engagement with our Department of Computer Science has helped to establish Princeton as a leader in the field,” Eisgruber said in the press release.

The University will present the awards during Alumni Day on Feb. 25, 2023.

Miriam Waldvogel is a News Contributor for the ‘Prince.’ Please send correction requests to corrections@dailyprincetonian.com.