Recently in Tiger of the Week

In an election season filled with fresh faces, at least two new Princeton alumni have earned seats in the House of Representatives.

Nan Hayworth '81 (Courtesy nanhayworth.com)

Nan Sutter Hayworth ’81, a Republican in New York's 19th district, won her race against Democratic Rep. John Hall. Hayworth is a retired ophthalmologist and former PAW contributor (she wrote an essay for our 2006 Reunions Guide). After receiving the news that she was headed for Capitol Hill, she told The Journal News that her victory “belongs to a country that is desperate for change and eager for the change we have made here in District 19. We did it with darn hard work.” Hayworth had campaigned on a platform aimed at spurring economic growth with free-market policies.

Terri Sewell '86 (Courtesy sewellforcongress.com)

Terri Sewell ’86, a Democrat in Alabama’s seventh district, also stressed economics in her campaign, listing job creation as her lead issue (unemployment in her district far exceeds the national average). Sewell’s win was historic: She will be the state’s first African-American woman to serve in Congress. As Sewell told The Selma Times-Journal, her family has a tradition of political firsts. “I have a wonderful role model in my mother,” she said. “Some people ask me, ‘Where do you get your tenacity?’ My mom was the first African-American woman to sit on the city council of Selma and was also the person who gave me my first book. I traveled through those books long before I ever had this chance.”

For a full list of alumni election results, click here.

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Mark Siegler '63, M.D. (Dan Dry for the University of Chicago Medical Center)

Working with critically ill patients as a young doctor in the intensive care unit of a Chicago hospital in the early 1970s, Mark Siegler ’63 found himself confronting a range of ethical issues, including end-of-life care and decision making within the doctor-patient relationship. Siegler and his mentor, Dr. Alvan Feinstein, began to think about – and write about – what they called "clinical ethics," developing an important field within the study of medicine.

Since 1984, Siegler has directed the University of Chicago's MacLean Center for Clinical Medical Ethics, the nation's first program devoted to clinical ethics, and this weekend, the pioneering ethicist will receive a lifetime achievement award from the American Society for Bioethics and Humanities, in recognition of his insightful contributions to the field.

Clinical ethics is grounded "in medicine as practice," Siegler explained in a recent news release. "Its intellectual foundation derives from the doctor-patient encounter and the nature and goals of medicine rather than from ethical theory based on philosophy, theology, or law," he said. Siegler is the author of five books, including the popular textbook Clinical Ethics: A Practical Approach to Ethical Decisions in Clinical Medicine.

An English major and honors graduate at Princeton, Siegler studied medicine at the University of Chicago, where he also served as an intern, resident, and chief resident. He was a Princeton trustee from 2006 to 2010 and is currently the Lindy Bergman Distinguished Service Professor of Medicine and Surgery at the University of Chicago.

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Anthony Marx *86 *90 (Jonathan Blanc/NYPL)

As a child, Anthony Marx *86 *90 spent after-school hours studying and reading at a neighborhood library in Inwood, near the northern end of Manhattan. His educational path took him from the New York City public schools to an undergraduate career at Yale, on to South Africa in his 20s, where he helped found a secondary school, and eventually to Princeton, where he earned a master’s degree from the Woodrow Wilson School and a Ph.D. in politics. Now Marx, the president of Amherst College, is returning to his hometown -- and its libraries -- to take on a new challenge as president and CEO of the New York Public Library (NYPL). The move, announced Oct. 6, will become effective in July 2011.

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Karen Smyers '83 (Elaine Debitetto)

Triathletes train for endurance, and longtime pro Karen Smyers '83 has endured more than most: a bout with thyroid cancer, a collision with an 18-wheel truck, and another accident that nearly severed her hamstring, not to mention the everyday hurdles of preparing to race the daunting Ironman distances – a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bike ride, and a 26.2-mile run.

Smyers, who swam competitively at Princeton, dominated the U.S. women's triathlon scene in the 1990s and won gold at the Ironman World Championships in Hawaii in 1995. In fact, she won two major Ironman titles in a two-week span that year – "perhaps the single most remarkable achievement in the sport to date," according to USA Triathlon, which inducted Smyers into its Hall of Fame in 2008. 

This weekend, Smyers returns to Hawaii for what may be her last Ironman as a professional, and in addition to racing her competitors on the course, she is aiming to win the event's top charity prize by raising money for children and families affected by pediatric brain tumors. She chose her cause to honor Robert Duffy Jr., the late son of a friend and teammate. Through Oct. 5, Smyers had raised nearly $34,000.

Related links:

An appreciation from "Team Psycho" teammate Dede Griesbauer

More information about the Matthew Larson Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation

USA Triathlon's profile of Karen Smyers

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John Dabiri '01 (Courtesy the John D. & Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation)

Engineer John Dabiri ’01 draws design inspiration from unusual sources, including jellyfish, whose efficient propulsion mechanism has influenced designs for energy-efficient underwater vehicles and wind power turbines, as well as medical research on blood flow. His work in fluid dynamics, featured in PAW last October, earned him a spot on the Popular Science "Brilliant 10" in 2008. This week, Dabiri received another boost when he was selected for a $500,000 no-strings-attached MacArthur Fellowship – popularly known as a "genius grant."

At age 30, Dabiri is the youngest of this year's 23 MacArthur Fellows. The son of Nigerian immigrants who settled in Toledo, Ohio, he majored in mechanical and aerospace engineering at Princeton and first studied jellyfish as a summer researcher at Caltech after his junior year. Mory Gharib, the Caltech professor who led that project, later became his doctoral adviser. Dabiri received his Ph.D. from Caltech in 2005 and joined the faculty a month later.

Dabiri, who regularly travels around the world to study different jellyfish in their natural habitats, told The Los Angeles Times that he plans to use some of the MacArthur grant on swimming lessons: "Oddly enough, I never learned to swim," he said. "For once, it will be nice to study jellyfish from close up instead of from the other side of the glass."

Do you have a nominee for Tiger of the Week? Let us know. All alumni qualify. PAW's Tiger of the Week is selected by our staff, with help from readers like you.