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PRINCETON UNIVERSITY
Office of Communications
Stanhope Hall, Princeton, New Jersey 08544-5264
Telephone 609-258-3601; Fax 609-258-1301Contact: Justin Harmon (609) 258-5732
Date: May 28, 1999
Janice Harayda to Become Editor of Princeton Alumni Weekly
PRINCETON, N.J. -- Janice Harayda, most recently book editor and critic for the Cleveland Plain Dealer and currently vice president for awards at the National Book Critics Circle, will become editor of the Princeton Alumni Weekly, effective July 1.
Harayda's editorial experience includes a stint as a staff writer for Glamour and more recently as editorial director for Boston magazine. She has written a non-fiction book, The Joy of Being Single (Doubleday, 1986), and a comic novel, The Accidental Bride, (St. Martin's Press, 1999). Her book reviews have been published in The Washington Post, The Chicago Tribune and The Philadelphia Inquirer, and she has written numerous free-lance articles for such newspapers as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Christian Science Monitor. She will be the first PAW editor who has not held an undergraduate or graduate degree from Princeton.
"We were very impressed with Jan's energy, her enthusiasm, and the depth of her experience in journalism and publishing," said Peter G. Brown '70, editor-in-chief of The Sciences magazine and chair of the PAW board of trustees. "She has worked directly with some of the most respected magazine editors in America. She grew up just north of town, and though the University was not co-educational at the time she applied to college, Princeton has always been an important presence in her life."
"As an adolescent, I remember admiring dispatches by the young Landon Jones '66 in a neighbor's copy of the Princeton Alumni Weekly," Harayda said. "They were a revelation to me. For the first time, I realized that a vibrant publishing realm existed beyond the newspapers and mass-market magazines that flowed into my parents' house. I have always been grateful for that early exposure to the exemplary writing of the Princeton Alumni Weekly, and I am delighted to have the opportunity to continue that tradition as editor-in-chief. I hope alumni will bring me their ideas -- whether about stories or features of the magazine they would like to change or keep. I want to help the magazine reflect the spirit of the campus."
Harayda's appointment was made by the magazine's board of directors at the recommendation of a search committee that included Brown; Jones, a former PAW editor who is currently vice president of strategic planning for Time Warner Inc.; and Elaine Showalter, Avalon Professor of the Humanities at Princeton. Harayda replaces J.I. "Jim" Merritt '66, PAW editor since 1989, who is leaving to devote his full time to free-lance writing and editing.
"I'm pleased to be leaving PAW in such extremely able hands," said Merritt. "Jan comes to the job with more editing experience than any of PAW's editors before her. I'm looking forward to seeing the changes her energy and creativity will bring to the magazine in its 99th year of publication."
A native of New Brunswick, Harayda graduated from the University of New Hampshire and interned at the New Brunswick Home News before embarking on a career in magazines. She resides in Princeton Borough.
The Princeton Alumni Weekly (PAW), an independent alumni magazine with a circulation of 60,000, is published 17 times a year by Princeton Alumni Publications, Inc., a nonprofit support organization of Princeton University. Its title notwithstanding, it is actually published biweekly during most of the school year, with monthly issues in September, January, May, June, and July.