Features | Princeton Magazine

Featuring a Mix of Depth, Competitive Fire PU Men’s Heavyweights Primed for IRAs

HEAVY MEDAL: The Princeton University men’s heavyweight second varsity eight celebrates after earning gold earlier this month at the Eastern Sprints. It was one of four medals earned by Princeton at the competition held on May 13 in Worcester, Mass. as the fourth varsity placed first with the third varsity and fifth varsity both coming in second. Tiger rowers will be looking for more medals this weekend as they compete in the Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA) national championship regatta at Mercer Lake in West Windsor from June 1-3. (Photo Courtesy of Princeton’s Office of Athletic Communications)

By Bill Alden

Even though the Princeton University men’s heavyweight varsity eight just missed earning a medal at Eastern Sprints earlier this month, the crew showed it can compete with any boat in the nation.

“It was an awesome race. It was one of those things in rowing that you don’t get to see very often where there were three boats there and it was a drag race in the last 500 meters,” said Princeton head coach Greg Hughes, whose top boat placed fourth in its final at 5:58.728 over the 2,000-meter course with Brown coming in third at 5:58.232, Harvard taking second in 5:58.072, and Yale posting a winning time of 5:54.668. more

Princeton Insider: Graduation Gifts

Photo Source: @princeton_university

Send your recent graduate on the right path with these items guaranteed for success!

Photo courtesy of Princeton University, Office of Engineering Communications, Andrea Kane (2018)

By Donald Gilpin

“Data Fallout at Facebook,” “Americans See AI as a Threat to Jobs,” “Digital Cash Made Easy (Fraud Too),” “Self-Driving Car Accidents Will Keep Happening,” “Russian Election Meddling,” “The Rise of Cyber Surveillance,” “Can Democracy Survive Big Data?”

The headlines overflow with ominous warnings about the unintended consequences of the rapid growth of technology in the 21st century. Our romance with artificial intelligence (AI) and our faith in its potential to improve our lives have clearly hit a rough patch. A self-driving car kills a pedestrian; Facebook accounts look like more of a liability than an asset to our personal lives and relationships, our freedom, and the stability of our political systems; our jobs are disappearing; and though our smartphones often bring us together and help to educate our children, they can also create more loneliness, less actual human contact, and more closed-mindedness. more

Princeton Neuroscience Institute the Interdisciplinary PNI Takes a New Approach to Studying the Brain and Behavior

Princeton Neuroscience Institute (Photo by Michael Moran/OTTO)

By Wendy Greenberg

It may seem to some that the Princeton Neuroscience Institute has always been part of the Washington Road landscape, nestled between Roberts Stadium and South Drive. But there was a time, only about 10 years ago, when the site of the Princeton Neuroscience Institute (PNI) and Peretsman-Scully Hall, which houses the Princeton University Psychology Department, was a parking lot. more

That Club Life

The Ivy Club facade (Courtesy of Ivy Club)

By Anne Levin

In 1877, a small group of sophomores at the College of New Jersey — soon to be renamed Princeton University — decided to start a club where they could dine together and socialize. Renting rooms in a small brownstone and hiring a couple to cook and serve meals, the friends unwittingly began a tradition that has become a key part of the University experience.

From that first club, called Ivy, 18 more followed. The architecturally distinctive mansions that line Prospect Avenue and a section of Washington Road are the focus of The Princeton Eating Clubs, a lavishly-illustrated, diligently-researched book by Clifford Zink. Published last fall by the Princeton Prospect Foundation, it is full of historical anecdotes and photographs from the clubs’ archives and libraries. more

Q&A with Shirley M. Tilghman, President of Princeton University, Emeritus Professor of Molecular Biology and Public Affairs

Photo by Charles R. Plohn

Interview by Lynn Adams Smith

What have you been doing since stepping down as president of Princeton University, and how has your life changed?

After stepping down in July of 2013, I spent a year’s sabbatical, primarily in London, and have since returned to the faculty full time. I have been teaching in both the Freshman Seminar Program and in the Woodrow Wilson School, and working on science policy issues. My life seems to be almost as busy, but the major difference is that I have more control over my schedule. more

Imagining Retirement

By Stuart Mitchner

Samuel Johnson had it right when he said, “It is better to live rich than to die rich.”

Although I’m well past retirement age, I’d never given it much thought until I sat down to write this article. If you’ve been writing since you were 10 and intend to keep on doing so, whether or not you do it for a living, retiring simply isn’t an option. While I appreciate the virtues of planning ahead, “saving for a rainy day,” and so forth, the whole idea is alien to my sense of what makes life worth living. more

The Wizard We Never Knew

By William Uhl / Photographs Courtesy of Thomas Edison National Historic Park

Walking through the halls of Thomas Edison’s laboratory in Thomas Edison National Historical Park in West Orange, it’s easy to think history’s been frozen in time. From the chemical storage to his personal lounge, everything in the laboratory has been meticulously preserved and restored to look how Edison himself would have seen it. The material storage room still has everything ranging from iron bars to elephant hide, and the production floor has era-appropriate hats and jackets hanging on workers’ hooks. more

Fun in the Summertime

Sunset Sips & Sounds at Terhune Orchards Vineyards and Winery (Photo Courtesy of Terhune Orchards)

By Laurie Pellichero

Summer is just around the corner, along with a plethora of events in town and all around. Here is just a sampling of activities to enjoy as the weather heats up…

CONCERTS AND SHOWS

The Arts Council of Princeton (www.artscouncilofprinceton.org) and Princeton Shopping Center (www.princtonshoppingcenter.com) present the 35th annual Summer in the Courtyard Concert Series, featuring the best in local and regional jazz, folk, world, rock, and blues. Concerts are every Thursday, 6 to 8pm, from June 21 through August 23 at the Princeton Shopping Center. Don’t forget to bring a lawn chair! Acts include The Dirk Quinn Band on June 21, Blawenburg Band on June 28, DCFusion on July 12, BRIZ and the Revival on July 26, Grace Little Band on August 2, Eco Del Sur on August 9, and the Octavia Blues Band on August 16. In the event of inclement weather, concerts will be held inside the Arts Council’s Pop-Up Studio, next to Metropolis Spa & Salon at the Princeton Shopping Center. more

Room to Grow: Morven Gets a Much-Needed Modern Addition

By Anne Levin / Renderings courtesy of Morven Museum and Garden

Imagining an addition to Morven, the historic Princeton museum that was home to a signer of the Declaration of Independence and five New Jersey governors, one might understandably expect a building in the style of the 18th-century Greek Revival mansion. But the recently opened Stockton Education Center, which adds much-needed space to the site, bears no resemblance to its grand old ancestor. more

A Well-Designed Life

Iran Entanglements Ignite Two Rallies, In Town and at P.U.

By Donald Gilpin

American politics continues to interweave and often clash with Iranian politics, and last week those entanglements precipitated two rallies in Princeton.

The first took place in Hinds Plaza on Wednesday to protest against President Trump’s announcement that the United States would be withdrawing from the nuclear agreement with Iran; and the second was held on Friday evening at Princeton University outside Frist Campus Center to show support and solidarity for Xiyue Wang, a Princeton graduate student who has been imprisoned in Iran for almost two years. more

Princeton Insider: Outdoor Living

Photo Source: @frontgate

Celebrate the summer season in New Jersey with these key pieces for your outdoor living spaces.

United States Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey has been selected to deliver the keynote address at the University’s Class Day ceremony on Monday, June 4.

Written by Princeton University’s Office of Communications

Class Day, which takes place the day before Commencement and is held on historic Cannon Green, is being organized by members of the graduating class and is one of Princeton’s oldest traditions. The ceremony also includes remarks by class members, the recognition of seniors for their accomplishments, and the induction of honorary class members. more

Princeton Insider: Mother’s Day 2018

Photo Source: @moonjuice

Give your Mom the gift of love this holiday season with one of these special items.

Providing a Permanent Home Base For Grieving Kids and Families

HOME FOR GOOD: Cutting the ribbon when Good Grief first moved into its home on Mapleton Road in September 2015 were, from left: Plainsboro Deputy Mayor Neil J. Lewis, Plainsboro Mayor Peter Cantu, program participants Emma and Erin Legacki, and Princeton Mayor Liz Lempert. A major donation by the family of Margaret Anne Wilby on April 26, 2018, a decade after her death, makes the house a permanent home for the organization.

By Anne Levin

For children devastated by the death of a parent or sibling, Good Grief Princeton has provided comfort and support services since 2012. By 2015, the program had outgrown its rented space at Trinity Church and settled in to more spacious facilities at 5 Mapleton Road. more

Fund for Irish Studies at Princeton University presents “John Redmond and Edward Carson: Bloodshed, Borders and the Union State”

Alvin Jackson, the Sir Richard Lodge Professor of History at the University of Edinburgh. (Photo by Johnny Bambury)

A lecture by Alvin Jackson, the Sir Richard Lodge Professor of History at the University of Edinburgh

Acclaimed Irish historian and scholar Alvin Jackson will conclude the spring 2018 Fund for Irish Studies series by giving a lecture, entitled “John Redmond and Edward Carson: Bloodshed, Borders and the Union State,” on Friday, April 27 at 4:30 p.m. in East Pyne Room 010 on the Princeton University campus. The lecture is free and open to the public. more

Patrick Kennedy is at Home in New Jersey

By Taylor Smith

Photography by Tom Grimes

The youngest son of Massachusetts Senator Ted Kennedy and Virginia Joan Kennedy, Patrick Kennedy has put down roots in Brigantine, New Jersey with his wife, Amy, and four children, Harper, Owen, Nora, and Nell. Amy is expecting their fifth child in May. A New Jersey native, Amy has more than 15 years’ experience working in New Jersey public schools and is the education director of The Kennedy Forum. Patrick lovingly refers to Amy as his “Jersey girl,” who grew up in a neighboring shore town. Located on the bayside of the Jersey Shore, a stone’s throw from Atlantic City, the Kennedy’s waterfront home is centered around family and the beauty of the natural setting. On the day of Princeton Magazine’s visit, seagulls were dive-bombing around Patrick’s boat and fine grains of sand blew across the roadway. more

Fueled by Disappointing Finish at NCAAs in 2017, Tiger Open Crew Driven to Succeed This Spring

OPEN FOR BUSINESS: The Princeton University open women’s varsity eight shows its form in a recent race. The Tiger had a mixed result last Saturday, topping Yale to retain the Eisenberg Cup but falling to Iowa in the three-boat race. Princeton, now 10-1, returns to action when it heads south to face the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Va. on April 21. (Photo Courtesy of Princeton’s Office of Athletic Communications)

By Bill Alden

After rolling through the regular season last spring with an 11-0 and winning the Ivy League Championships, the Princeton University open women’s varsity eight hit a roadblock at the NCAA championships. more

Incoming PU Freshman Crane Rows Across Atlantic, Setting Record, Learning Life Lessons on Voyage

ATLANTIC ADVENTURE: Oliver Crane celebrates in Antigua this past January after rowing across the Atlantic Ocean as part of the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge. Crane, a resident of Lawrenceville who is headed to Princeton University, rowed the 3,000-mile journey in 44 days, and at age 19, became the youngest person to ever row solo across the Atlantic.