People

Staff appointments

Charles Davall, the Princeton Borough chief of police, has been named deputy director of operations for the University’s Department of Public Safety.

Davall will be responsible for public safety’s day-to-day operations and will focus on strengthening the department’s problem-solving skills, community partnerships and staff development, according to Director of Public Safety Steven Healy. His appointment is effective Feb. 7.

“As we continue to enhance the level of services we provide, Chief Davall will serve as an excellent mentor for our staff members. His 25 years of service with the Princeton Borough Police Department provide valuable expertise in running the operations of a public safety department,” Healy said.

“Chief Davall has considerable experience not only in our local community, but in state law enforcement as well. He has been actively involved in the county and state police chiefs’ associations, so he can help us to further develop services to provide for the campus community,” he added. “We underwent an extensive search process for this position, with more than 100 applicants with a range of campus and municipal policing experience, and we were fortunate to have an excellent candidate in our own backyard.”

“The Princeton campus community has been important part of my life for many years,” Davall said. “I have enjoyed my years of service with Princeton Borough, and I’m excited about making this change to join the University’s Department of Public Safety.”

Davall will retire from the position of Princeton Borough’s chief of police, which he has held since July 2001. He has served in a variety of positions since joining that department as a patrol officer in 1980. A graduate of Richard Stockton College of New Jersey, Davall holds a master’s degree in criminal justice from New Jersey City University.

Eric Plutz has been named principal University organist. His first Sunday playing in the University Chapel will be Feb. 6, according to Thomas Breidenthal, dean of religious life and of the chapel.

Plutz has been organist and director of music at the Church of the Epiphany in Washington, D.C., since 1995. He oversaw the church’s music program, including directing and accompanying a semi-professional choir, and planning and implementing a popular concert series.

Also an organist at Temple Sinai in Washington and accompanist of the Cantate Chamber Singers, Plutz has taught organ at the Selma M. Levine School of Music. He has served as dean of the District of Columbia Chapter of the American Guild of Organists and recently concluded a six-year tenure as keyboard artist of the Cathedral Choral Society and rehearsal accompanist of the Washington Bach Consort.

Plutz has worked as an accompanist with many Washington, D.C., organizations, including the National Symphony Orchestra, the Choral Arts Society of Washington, the American Repertory Singers, the Fessenden Ensemble, the Washington Symphonic Brass and the Washington Ballet. He also has accompanied the Voices of Ascension conducted by Dennis Keene and has worked with conductors Leonard Slatkin, J. Reilly Lewis and Norman Scribner in various venues in the Washington area, including the National Gallery of Art, the Barns at Wolf Trap and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. A seasoned concert artist, he has been invited to play organ concerts in distinguished locations across the United States.

Plutz earned a bachelor of music degree, magna cum laude, from Westminster Choir College in 1989 and a master of music degree from the Eastman School of Music in 1991. He has been a member of the American Guild of Organists since 1984 and a member of the Association of Anglican Musicians since 1991, and he has served on the Diocesan Commission on Liturgy and Music for the Diocese of Washington.

Plutz succeeds David Messineo, who died last summer at age 45.