Barton Gellman ’82 shared the timeline of his work last year to break the stories of classified National Security Agency documents provided by Edward Snowden at a Reunions lecture on Saturday morning.
Deborah Prentice, professor of psychology and psychology department chair for the past twelve years, has been appointed dean of the faculty, the University announced on Wednesday.
It can be hard for graduating students to leave the University because it is a source of personal growth, but a Princeton education prepares students for lifelong learning and unforeseeable opportunities, University President Christopher Eisgruber ’83 said at Princeton’s 267th Commencement on Tuesday, the third and final day of graduation exercises. Woodrow Wilson, Class of 1879, was an example of someone who struggled to adjust immediately after graduation but ultimately “lived a life of leadership, service and consequence,” Eisgruber said. “Your path beyond Princeton, like Tommy Wilson’s path, is likely to take many twists and turns,” Eisgruber said, referring to Woodrow Wilson by the name by which he was known on campus.
Former Princeton Triangle Club accountant and McCarter Theatre General Manager Thomas Muza has been indicted by a state grand jury for allegedly embezzling over $180,000 from the club, New Jersey’s Office of the Attorney General announced Monday. Muza was indicted on a charge of second-degree theft by unlawful taking, which carries with it a sentence of five to 10 years in state prison and a criminal fine of up to $150,000.
An open house held on Saturday was one of the last opportunities to see Butler Apartments -- a graduate housing complex built shortly after World War II that was intended to last for only a decade -- before it is torn down this summer having exceeded its projected life-span by almost sixty years. Many graduate students who resided in the complex remembered it fondly, all the while acknowledging its flaws. Simon Leblanc GS, who is studying applied and computational mathematics, and Sebastien Philippe GS, who is studying mechanical and aerospace engineering, explained that Butler Apartments offers an outdoor and community spirit that does not exist in the other graduate housing options. “I like the environment and especially the community spirit,” Leblanc said.
Alumni discussed the importance of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as well as the tender negotiations between the United States and Iran on the nuclear deal at a Reunions panel on Saturday.
On the same day that the federal government announced a 30 percent target reduction of carbon pollution by 2030, former Vice President Al Gore gave a speech to the graduating Class of 2014 at Class Day combining humor and a message to take action against global warming. "I was once named one of the 100 funniest men on C-Span," Gore said. On a more serious note, he criticized the University for not supporting the divestment movement, a push that seeks to stop college endowments from investing in non-renewable energy sources, and turned to University President Christopher Eisgruber ’83 to apologize for the disagreement that University presidents and the cause Gore promotes hold on that front. Gore follows in the footsteps of David Remnick ’81, Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, Chevy Chase, Jerry Seinfeld and others who have spoken at the University's annual tradition of Class Day in honor of the graduating class.
University President Christopher Eisgruber ’83 spoke in a conversation with alumni about the three priorities that he came into office with: reaching out to the larger Princeton community, building his administrative team and continuing the execution of key initiatives that Shirley Tilghman had launched during her time in office.
Although there is obviously political gridlock in the government right now, it can be remedied, alumni panelists said in a discussion moderated by associate politics professor Paul Frymer.
Receiving a Princeton education makes one privileged, even if that person was not privileged before, Christopher Lu ’88, Deputy Secretary of the Department of Labor and former White House Cabinet Secretary, told the Class of 2014 in his Baccalaureate addresson Sunday,titled “The Inheritance of a Princeton Education.” After one has received this inheritance, Lu said, one should give back to society. “Your education is your inheritance,” Lu said.
Anthropology professor João Biehl noted the importance of recognizing recipients of aid as dynamic individuals while moderating the Friday panel “Princeton Alumni in the Service of All Nations.” “If we work with people on an everyday basis, we understand them as much more complex beings,” he said.
The compensation system gives too much incentive for bankers to take risks, and the University has promoted the view that the markets generally take care of themselves, Paul Volcker ’49, former chairman of the Federal Reserve, said in a panel discussion on Friday. "We have a department at this great University ... teaching people how to get around every rule you can conceive of to make big bonuses at big banks," Volcker said, referring to the Operations Research and Financial Engineering department. Richard Herring GS ’73, professor of international banking at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, said governments typically bail out banks for one of four reasons: they are too big, they are important to key markets, they are interconnected with other important financial institutions or they're complex.
Flo Rida, a hip-hop artist, performed at the 25th reunion tent in Whitman College on Thursday night, a concert that was initially restricted to Class of 1989 guests but was eventually opened to all Reunions attendees. The decision to open up the concert was a “class decision,” according to a source familiar with the situation. Multiple members of the Class of 1989 told The Daily Princetonian earlier on Thursday evening that Flo Rida was expected to perform. The concert took place on early in the Reunions schedule, on a day when most attendees have yet to arrive on campus.Entertainment chair for the 25th reunion Stephen Consentino ’89 explained that this was due to the artist's schedule, who was unavailable any other day. One of Flo Rida’s most famous songs is “Low,” featuring T-Pain, which became popular around 2008.
A globe inside Guyot Hall caught on fire Friday afternoon during an alumni reception. University Vice President and Secretary Bob Durkee ’69 was on the scene, but deferred comment to Geosciences Department Manager Nora Zelizer. At approximately 6 p.m., the motor on the globe caught fire and triggered the fire alarm, Zelizer said.
The world’s 25 fastest markets account for only 0.4 percent of market capitalization in the world’s stock markets, but also make up 30 percent of the world’s population, Thanassis Mazarakis ’84, COO of Southern Star and former president of Chase Merchant Services, said in a panel discussion Friday about the best investment opportunities.
The Daily Princetonian spoke to former chairman of the Federal Reserve Paul Volcker '49 following a panel discussion in which he participated, titled "Are financial institutions too big or too big to fail?" At the panel, Volcker criticized universities like Princeton for allegedly teaching students how to cheat the financial system. The Daily Princetonian: Do you think the Federal Reserve went far enough in stabilizing the banking system? Paul Volcker ’49: No, I'm not going to answer a question like that. DP: Pretty recently, some economists have suggested that the central bankers took [the threat of] inflation too seriously. PV: I'll give you a simple answer.
A panel of female alumni discussed the question "Should women do it all?” at a Reunions discussion on Friday moderated by politics professor Tali Mendelberg.
Brian Reilly ’14 won the Young Alumni Trustee election and will begin a four-year term as a University trustee on July 1, the University announced on Friday.
While the media and public often take a short-term view of the benefits of a college education, the University is a long-term enterprise, University President Christopher Eisgruber ’83 told an alumni audience on Thursday at the Class of 1959 Reunion Seminar.
Flo Rida, a hip-hop artist, is currently performing at the 25th reunion tent. The concert is expected to last no longer than an hour and a half.
