For professorial couples, Princeton provides an attractive environment
In the Amboseli National Park in East Africa, five miles from the base of Mt. Kilimanjaro, ecology and evolutionary biology professors Jeanne and Stuart Altmann have been studying a group of baboons for more than three decades.From their tents pitched at the edge of the park, they discuss the animals' environment, behavior, infant development, feeding and foraging patterns and population dynamics.Back at the University, the duo hovers over volumes of related research and map files in their joint library in Jeanne Altmann's office in Guyot Hall.While the Altmanns may seem like a typical pair of scientific researchers, they are anything but.The two not only share similar academic interests and positions at the University, but they also share a marriage."It's kind of a tricky relationship," said Stuart Altmann, who researched and taught alongside his wife Jeanne at the University of Chicago for 28 years before coming to Princeton in 1998."When we're doing field work, we're isolated in distant places with just the two of us or with our children or a small group of Kenyan assistants," he explained.Though acknowledging the potential for such close contact to either "make or break a marriage," Altmann is quick to point out the advantages of working in the same field and institution as his wife."We see each other frequently and 'talk shop' endlessly," he said.