News

Schafer wins $1.5 million award

Religion professor Peter Schafer is one of four recipients of the Andrew Mellon Foundation's Distinguished Achievement Award, a three-year, $1.5 million prize that honors scholars who have made significant contributions to humanistic inquiry.Schafer, a renowned scholar of Judaic studies, is the fifth University professor to win the prestigious honor in six years.Until he received the award, Schafer was not aware he had even been nominated."I got a letter from FedEx in the mail one day," Schafer recalled in an interview.

Redheads let hair down for BBC film

"I think the last time I was in a room with this many redheads was with my family," ginger-haired Irish comedian Owen O'Neill told the Princeton Redheads Society yesterday.

Grad alum now leads Bangladesh

Princeton-trained economist Fakhruddin Ahmed GS '75 was appointed Friday to lead Bangladesh's interim government, a move by the country's president to stem a turbulent political crisis.Ahmed, a former governor of the country's central bank who received his Ph.D.

What's sacred? A photography exhibition

The photographs shown here are a collection of artistic responses by the University community to the question: What is sacred?

Whitman, behind the fence

Whitman College, perhaps the University's largest single construction project to date, is due to be completed on schedule and close to budget, project manager John Ziegler said during a tour of the residential college Monday.

Dining halls to keep Gothic feel

Responding to complaints raised by students last spring, University officials have scrapped renovation plans for Rockefeller and Mathey colleges' dining halls that would have replaced long tables with a more modern setup of round tables and booths.While the current plans still call for an overhaul of the food serving area, the renovated dining spaces will retain their traditional Gothic look when students return next year.Administrators went back to the drawing board after initial plans met with strong opposition from students who felt that the changes would detract from the halls' distinctly Gothic feel.

With partnerships, University Channel bolsters service

Just over a year after the launch of the University Channel, program officials say they are pleased with its growing popularity and announced that Princeton will partner with three other colleges to bolster the service, benefiting public policy and foreign affairs aficionados who can watch the school's lectures and other content online.The "channel," started by the Wilson School in 2005, is hosted online and provides the public with a downloadable wealth of video and audio feeds of lectures and panels by distinguished speakers from universities around the world.

Petraeus faces tough road in Iraq

Lt. Gen. David Petraeus GS '85, soon to be the new commander of U.S.

Going for a spin

Renowned mathematician Kruskal dies at 81

Gushing down a canal one day in August, 1834, a steady, solitary wave caught the attention of a young Scottish engineer.

'He was the Prince'

Larry DuPraz, the beloved flat-topped, cigar-chomping curmudgeon whose critical eye refined six decades of journalism at The Daily Princetonian, died the morning of Christmas Eve at a rehabilitation center in Beverly, Mass.

Slaughter plans one year sabbatical in China

Wilson School Dean Anne-Marie Slaughter '80 is planning to take time off from her post the year after next to travel to China on a one-year sabbatical.

A tribute to Princeton's professor of journalism

Alumni of The Daily Princetonian share their memories of Larry DuPraz, the beloved ink-stained, cigar-chomping curmudgeon whose critical eye refined six decades of journalism at the paper, on our blog. Also, download an Adobe PDF copy of today's paper, which includes a special tribute, here.

Petraeus takes reins in Iraq

President Bush last week tapped Lt.

Office of Religious Life names interim dean

Frederick Borsch '57 will become the new interim dean of religious life and the chapel on Feb. 1, filling in for Rev.

Kagan '81 makes Harvard shortlist

Only one of the five women with close ties to Princeton who had been considered to replace interim chief Derek Bok as the next president of Harvard is still in the running, according to a report by the school's student newspaper.Early last month, President Tilghman; Harvard Law School Dean Elena Kagan '81; former vice provost Ruth Simmons, now president of Brown; and former provost Amy Gutmann, currently president of Penn, were listed among the 30 potential candidates for Harvard's top job.Among these names, a recent Crimson article listed Kagan as one of the remaining presidential candidates.

Report rethinks tenure

Parents and pundits have long scrutinized the way colleges admit their students. In a report last month, the Modern Language Association (MLA) suggests ways in which universities should rethink how they "admit" professors and later decide on their tenure.The report, written by the MLA Task Force on Evaluating Scholarship for Tenure and Promotion, recommends reducing the stress tenure committees place on publishing monographs, ensuring that departments know how to evaluate scholarship done in "new media," making tenure expectations more clear and rethinking the way outside letter-writers are used in the reviewing process."The creation of the task force was prompted by major changes in the way scholarship is published, as well as increased requirements for tenure that many colleagues reported at their institutions," Rosemary Feal, executive director of the MLA, said.

Yale decides to retain Early Action policy

Yale has opted to stick with its Early Action admission policy despite recent decisions by rivals Princeton and Harvard to discontinue their own early admission programs, the school announced last week.The announcement comes as a blow to the college's fellow members of the Big Three, both of which had hoped that their decisions to scrap their versions of the controversial program last fall would open the door to widespread abolishment of early admission.But in defending its move, Yale rejected the argument put forth by the presidents of Harvard and Princeton that early admission "advantages the advantaged," boosting the prospects of applicants from more privileged backgrounds who don't have to weigh financial aid packages in their decisions."We don't believe that eliminating early admissions would change the socioeconomic diversity of the class," Yale president Richard Levin said in an interview with Yale Alumni Magazine.

Legendary 'Prince' adviser Dupraz dies at 87

Larry Dupraz, the beloved flat-topped, cigar-chomping curmudgeon whose critical eye refined six decades of journalism at The Daily Princetonian, died the morning of Christmas Eve.

University grant policy promotes diversity

Since the implementation of the University's no-loan financial aid policy, the percentage of students who receive aid has increased by almost 20 percent, leading to a shift in demographics that has helped debunk the University's reputation as a haven for country club elites.Enacted in 2001, the no-loan policy was meant "to allow students to attend college without incurring large amounts of debt to repay," explained Betty Ashwood, associate director of undergraduate financial aid.