Recently in Tiger of the Week

For more than 250 years, Princeton alumni have earned some of the most distinguished titles in America, so when an alumnus becomes the first Princetonian to hold a given post, it tends to be a remarkable achievement. That was the case June 1 when the Library of Congress revealed that William Stanley Merwin ’48 (better known to readers as W.S.) would be the 17th Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry of the United States.

Librarian of Congress James Billington ’50, who made the announcement, said that Merwin’s poems “are often profound and, at the same time, accessible to a vast audience. He leads us upstream from the flow of everyday things in life to half-hidden headwaters of wisdom about life itself.”

Merwin has won the Pulitzer Prize for poetry twice, in 1971 for The Carrier of Ladders and in 2009 for The Shadow of Sirius, and former National Endowment for the Arts chairman Dana Gioia told The Washington Post that Merwin was “an inevitable choice” for poet laureate. (For the record, one other Princeton alumnus, William Meredith ’40, served as Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 1978-80, before the “poet laureate” designation was given.)

Though Merwin lives in relative seclusion on a former pineapple plantation in Hawaii, he travels to the mainland at least twice a year for readings and appearances. He read at Princeton in April as part of the creative writing program’s yearlong 70th anniversary celebration.

AUDIO: Listen to Merwin’s July 1 interview with NPR’s Melissa Block

(Photo courtesy Library of Congress)

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(Photo by Beverly Schaefer)

Less than a month ago, shortly after Princeton’s Commencement ceremony, Gen. David Petraeus *85 *87 walked to the podium in Nassau Hall’s Faculty Room to address five soon-to-be-commissioned Army ROTC graduates, two from Princeton and three from The College of New Jersey. It was Petraeus’ second trip to campus in five months — he also accepted the University’s James Madison Medal at February’s Alumni Day celebration — and his commissioning remarks touched on his affection for Princeton. But the bulk of the general’s speech was devoted to leadership advice for the new officers.

“Everything you do will be scrutinized intently, emulated, and commented on by those you are privileged to lead,” Petraeus said. “If you continue to lean forward, your troopers will, too. … But if you slack off, if you let down and blow off the standard, they’ll do the same unless great noncommissioned officers prevent it. In short, your attitude will echo and re-echo throughout your unit.”

When Holly Harrison *09 first applied to the Coast Guard Academy, she was turned down because she didn’t meet the eyesight requirements. But she applied again and was accepted after the vision standard for officers was adjusted, opening the way for a distinguished career. In 2003 Lt. Commander Harrison became the first woman to command a Coast Guard ship in a combat zone as the captain of the Aquidneck, a 110-foot cutter deployed to support Operation Iraqi Freedom. Later that year she was awarded the Bronze Star medal in recognition of her “meritorious achievement in combat operations, uncommon bravery, unparalleled leadership, and tactical brilliance.”

Earning her master’s degree in public policy, Harrison said she enjoyed the “diverse perspectives” of her colleagues: “My Princeton experience was really about the people at the Woodrow Wilson School.” She currently is a program reviewer in the Office of Budget and Programs at Coast Guard headquarters, and the White House announced June 22 that Harrison has been chosen as one of 13 White House fellows for 2010-11. Fellows are selected on the basis of professional achievement, leadership potential, and commitment to public service. After the fellowship, Harrison figures it will be time to get back to sea — she hopes there will be a 270-foot cutter awaiting her next tour of duty.

(Photo courtesy Holly Harrison *09)

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.

As an undergraduate, Indrani Pal-Chaudhuri ’01 enjoyed a glimpse of fame beyond campus when she was named one of Glamour magazine’s Top Ten College Women — an honor that recognized her creation of a literacy center and library in Ranaghat, India. But in her professional life, the former model has spent more time on the other side of the camera, working with partner Markus Klinko to establish a reputation as a top celebrity and fashion photographer. The duo’s photos have been featured in glossy magazines and on album covers for David Bowie and Beyoncé.

This week, Pal-Chaudhuri — who has gained single-name fame as “Indrani” in fashion circles — received her share of the spotlight with the debut of Double Exposure, a Bravo television series that goes behind the scenes with Pal-Chaudhuri, Klinko, and celebrity stylist GK Reid. The first episode featured a photo shoot with the rapper and actress Eve and focused on the logistics and give-and-take involved in capturing magazine-quality images.

Pal-Chaudhuri, an anthropology major at Princeton whose thesis was titled “In Pursuit of Happiness: Desire in Hinduism’s Vedanta Philosophy and Practice,” hopes to use her reality-TV popularity to make a splash in the publishing world. She’s written a book about “re-creating yourself and your relationships through developing your image into a powerful representation of your higher self.” The working title is Image Craft.

(Photo courtesy PicApp.com)

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.

Freestyle kayaker Dustin Urban ’07 has been competing in his sport for more than a decade, and he’s had success both in the United States and on the international stage (including a 6th-place finish at World Championships in 2003). Since graduating from Princeton, his priorities have shifted: With a young family and a full-time job, the 26-year-old finds time to practice most days but limits his road trips to three or four each year. Still, he told PAW, “I’m able to kind of come off the bench and be competitive.”

Last weekend, at the Teva Mountain Games in Vail, Colo., Urban twisted, flipped, and paddled his way to victory, winning the pro freestyle kayaking event for the fourth time in his career. Freestylers compete in one-minute intervals and try to do as many tricky maneuvers as possible. Judges award higher scores for more technically difficult moves and, as Urban says, “amplitude is also a factor” (translation: the more air, the better). At Vail, the water was unusually high, so competitors had to rely on improvisation, a strength for the veteran Urban.

Urban lives in Buena Vista, Colo., on the Arkansas River, and works as the director of marketing for South Main, a New Urbanist community adjacent to a whitewater park. In July, he will compete at the U.S. national team trials in Missoula, Mont., in hopes of earning a trip to the 2011 World Championships in Germany.

(Photos courtesy Dustin Urban ’07)

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(Photo by John Jameson ’04/Office of Communications)

In 2003, David Spergel ’82 and his colleagues from the Wilkinson Microwave Anistropy Probe (WMAP) experiment published several findings, including the age of the universe — 13.7 billion years. Soon after, Discovery Magazine asked the Princeton professor whether, at the beginning of his career, he would have thought it possible to provide such answers about the history of the universe. “Never,” he said. “Not with this kind of precision. When I entered the field, cosmology was a very speculative discipline. Now it is a real, experimental science. We can make predictions about the properties of the universe and then go out and test our predictions. And the accuracy of the experiments is improving by orders of magnitude.”

Last week, the Hong Kong-based Shaw Prize Committee rewarded that innovative and often-cited work from 2003 — and other studies that followed — by awarding its annual $1 million astronomy prize to Spergel ’82, Princeton colleague Lyman Page Jr., and WMAP collaborator Charles L. Bennett, a professor of physics and astronomy at Johns Hopkins. WMAP, named for the late Princeton physicist David Wilkinson, “has enabled precise determinations of the fundamental cosmological parameters, including the geometry, age, and composition of the universe,” according to the Shaw Prize commendation. The Shaw Prizes, first awarded in 2004, have been nicknamed the “Asian Nobels.”

Spergel, chairman of Princeton’s department of astrophysical sciences, earned his bachelor’s degree in astrophysics and completed his Ph.D. studies at Harvard in 1985. He joined the Princeton faculty in 1987 and earned a MacArthur fellowship in 2001.

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.

Former Princeton tennis teammates Jay Lapidus ’81, left, and Leif Shiras ’81 have a lot in common: Both were All-Americans for the Tigers; both found success in the pros, making appearances in the top 50 of the world rankings; and both launched second careers in tennis after their playing days were done — Lapidus as the highly successful coach of the Duke University men’s team, and Shiras as a television commentator for the Tennis Channel.

Lapidus and Shiras will add another common bond May 26 when the two are inducted into the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Men’s Collegiate Tennis Hall of Fame in Athens, Ga. Shiras is one of five player inductees this year, while Lapidus is being recognized for his contributions as both a player and coach.

Lapidus ranked No. 1 among U.S. collegians during his junior year at Princeton. As a pro, he reached the final 32 in the 1984 U.S. Open. After retiring in 1987, he was an assistant coach at South Carolina before taking over at Duke. With the Blue Devils, he won won 11 Atlantic Coast Conference championships, was named the conference’s Coach of the Year six times, and guided his squad to 17 consecutive NCAA Tournaments. Since 2008, he has served as Duke’s director of tennis.

Shiras, an NCAA singles semifinalist in 1980, had a long pro career that included a three-year stint on the U.S. Davis Cup team. His second career, as a commentator, has spanned more than a decade. He is currently the lead analyst for FOX Sports Net’s international coverage of the ATP tour and has been a Tennis Channel commentator since the network launched in 2003.

Photos: Courtesy Duke Photography (Lapidus); Courtesy Tennis Channel (Shiras)

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.

When PAW last reported on Paul Lansky *73, the Princeton professor and computer music pioneer was in the process of reinventing himself. After more than three decades composing for computers, he noticed he was “struggling to uncover new territory,” and by shifting his focus back to writing for instruments, he told PAW, “I find that I discovered 40 acres of territory that’s not been planted.”

Part of Lansky’s new growth will come to fruition May 21 when the Alabama Symphony Orchestra debuts “Imaginary Islands,” a “tone poem” that the composer told The Birmingham News was inspired by a game in which children design their own islands. Lansky, the Alabama Symphony’s first composer-in-residence, has been working on the piece for much of the last year, and he seemed excited to hear its upcoming premiere.

“With computer music, you’re your own sculptor,” he explained in his interview with The Birmingham News. “You’re working in a studio. It’s so different when you hear this live organism playing back your piece. I hear really experienced orchestral composers say there are no surprises. For me everything will be a surprise.”

(Photo by Anna Finke)

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.

Forgive the repetition: For the second time in 13 months, Elena Kagan ’81 is our Tiger of the Week. Kagan, who last earned the honor when she was confirmed as the U.S. solicitor general, was nominated for a seat on the Supreme Court May 10. At a press conference that day, Kagan said she was honored and humbled by the nomination.

Though she has no judicial experience, Kagan has had a distinguished career in government and academia, including six years as dean of the Harvard Law School. “[T]hrough most of my professional life,” she said, “I’ve had the simple joy of teaching — of trying to communicate to students why I so love the law not just because it’s challenging and endlessly interesting — although it certainly is that — but because law matters; because it keeps us safe; because it protects our most fundamental rights and freedoms; and because it is the foundation of our democracy.”

Kagan’s nomination has been a point of pride for her native New York City. If approved, she will be the fourth sitting justice from the Big Apple, and the May 11 front page of The Daily News declared her the “Apple of O’s Eye.” Harvard Law also is justifiably excited — Kagan would be the school’s sixth alum on the court (including Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who completed her legal studies at Columbia). But Princeton has perhaps the greatest cause for celebration: After 35 years without an alumnus on the high court, recent presidents have been appointing Tigers galore. Samuel Alito ’72 was confirmed in 2006, and Sonia Sotomayor ’76 joined the court last year. A third Princetonian would be a rare feat, not seen on the Supreme Court since before the Civil War.

(Photo courtesy Harvard Law School)

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.

Last week, when Crain’s New York Business selected Jordan Roth ’97 for its annual “40 under 40” list of rising young stars in the business world, the publication noted that Roth had “booked some of the most innovative and successful shows on Broadway” — including Spring Awakening, the 2007 Tony winner for best musical, and Hair, which won the 2009 Tony for best revival of a musical. That observation came just days after the publication of reviews from Roth’s latest gamble, the Green Day musical American Idiot, which drew mixed reactions from critics but posted solid box-office numbers in its second week. (Roth told The Wall Street Journal that the show was “building exactly as we had hoped.”)

As president of Jujamcyn Theatres, the 34-year-old Roth is one of Broadway’s most prominent figures, but in a video interview with Crain’s, he attributed his success partly to the fact that he considers himself “first and foremost an audience member.” His charitable work reflects that point of view: In 2007, Roth led the launch of Givenik.com, which offers discount tickets and group rates to Broadway and Off-Broadway shows while enabling buyers to donate 5 percent of each purchase to a charity of their choice.

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.

Andrea Jung ’79, the CEO of Avon Products and a board member at Apple and General Electric, has been recognized as one of the most powerful women in business, and at the Ellis Island Family Heritage Awards ceremony April 22, she traced her success to a decision made before she was born, when her parents left China to come to America.

“My parents, almost 70 years ago, came to make their family’s dreams come true, to find a better opportunity in this amazing land,” Jung said. “We were given all the opportunities that they dreamed of here — the education, the tennis lessons, all of the wonderful opportunities being raised here offered — but one thing that they have always reminded us of is that we would be very proud, here in America, of our Chinese heritage.”

Recently, Jung felt a different sort of pride when, on a visit to China, she met with Avon sales representatives. A Chinese woman, speaking in Mandarin, saw the female CEO and said, “That’s the American dream.”

Jung was one of four honorees to receive this year’s Family Heritage Award, presented at the Ellis Island Immigration Museum. The other recipients were musician Bruce Springsteen, businessman and philanthropist Peter G. Peterson, and former pro basketball player Dikembe Mutombo.

Below, watch video of Jung’s remarks at the ceremony.

From left, NRDC Forces of Nature honorees Shelly Malkin ’86, Anthony Malkin, and Sheryl Crow. (Photo by Anthony Clark/NRDC).

April has been a rewarding month for artist and conservationist Shelly Malkin ’86. A new exhibit of her African wildlife paintings, inspired by a 2007 trip to Kenya, opened at Kiernan Hall and Nature Art Gallery in her hometown of Greenwich, Conn., earning positive reviews. The New York Times said that Malkin’s paintings “speak to the simplicity of animal life,” and The Danbury News Times said her “use of soft, bright colors, along with her intimate perspective, instill a sense of unrestrained majesty.”

Malkin also was honored with the prestigious Forces of Nature award from the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), an organization she serves as a trustee.