Princeton University

Princeton Weekly Bulletin February 26, 2007, Vol. 96, No. 17 prev next current

People
• Schäfer chosen for Andrew W. Mellon award
• Three new faculty members appointed
• Seven named to endowed professorships
• Spotlight

The Bulletin is published weekly during the academic year, except during University breaks and exam weeks, by the Office of Communications. Second class postage paid at Princeton. Postmaster: Send address changes to Princeton Weekly Bulletin, Office of Communications, Princeton University, 22 Chambers St., Suite 201, Princeton, NJ 08542. Permission is given to adapt, reprint or excerpt material from the Bulletin for use in other media.

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Deadlines. In general, the copy deadline for each issue is the Friday 10 days in advance of the Monday cover date. The deadline for the Bulletin that covers March 12-25 is Friday, March 2. A complete publication schedule is available at www.princeton.edu/ pr/ pwb/ deadlines.html; or by calling (609) 258-3601.

Editor: Ruth Stevens
Calendar editor: Shani Hilton
Staff writers: Jennifer Greenstein Altmann, Eric Quiñones
Contributing writers: Emily Aronson, Hilary Parker, Teresa Riordan
Photographers: Denise Applewhite, John Jameson
Design: Maggie Westergaard
Web edition: Mahlon Lovett

Nassau notes

Forum to feature emerging research

Princeton’s Center for Innovation in Engineering Education will showcase emerging research with strong commercial potential at its second annual Innovation Forum from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 27, in the Friend Center Convocation Room.

At the forum, Princeton scientists and engineers will give short presentations on early-stage entrepreneurial endeavors springing from their laboratories. Among the presenters are:

Vivek Pai, KyoungSoo Park, Larry Peterson, Marc Fiuczynski and Mark Huang, who have developed a content distribution network called CoBlitz, which can simultaneously handle large data files ranging from 10 kilobyte images to 10 gigabyte movies.
Michael Hecht, who is researching a new way to screen compounds that could result in treatments for Alzheimer’s disease.
Kale Frans, Anthony Hoffman and Scott Howard of Princeton’s Mid-Infrared Technologies for Health and Environment Center, whose company Primis Technologies is developing quantum cascade lasers for medical, environmental and security applications.
Ivan Glesk and Paul Prucnal, who are working on a secure optical communications network for on-demand applications.
Jeffry Stock, who is developing a topical anti-inflammatory agent.

At a reception following the event, forum presenters will be on hand to answer questions about their ventures and display posters that explain their work.

The Innovation Forum is part of EntrepreneurshipWeek USA and is sponsored by the School of Engineering and Applied Science, the JumpStart New Jersey Angel Network and the University’s Office of Technology Licensing. It is free and open to the public. To register, contact Stephanie Landers at slanders@princeton.edu or 258-3979.

Rare ceramic Mexican effigy censer from 1500 A.D. at the University Art Museum

Mexican effigy censer focus of University Art Museum exhibition

This rare ceramic Mexican effigy censer from 1500 A.D. is the focus of an exhibition at the University Art Museum on view through April 28. Titled “Sorcerers of the Fifth Heaven: Nahua Art and Ritual of Ancient Southern Mexico,” the display presents the results of 30 years of interdisciplinary investigation on ancient Mexican screenfold books and the ritual divinatory practices of the Nahua peoples of southern Mexico (1300-1500).

The effigy censer is made in the shape of a seated figure with an enlarged head, expressive face and bottle-shaped body to which tubular limbs are attached. Considered by its creators to have been endowed with a life force, the censer was spiritually activated by placing copal, a pine resin incense, inside its base. The smoke billowed up through the hollow body and out through the mouth, sending a prayer to a potent spirit force known as a Maquiltonal.

Williams to speak on black American society

Journalist and author Juan Williams will deliver a lecture on black American society titled “Eyes Off the Prize? Why Bill Cosby Is Right and What We Should Do About It” at 4:30 p.m. Thursday, March 1, in Dodds Auditorium, Robertson Hall.

Williams is a senior correspondent for National Public Radio and political analyst for Fox News. His most recent book is “Enough: The Phony Leaders, Dead-End Movements and Culture of Failure That Are Undermining Black America — and What We Can Do About It.”

In his lecture, Williams will argue that while there is still racism, African Americans must recognize and address the “culture of failure” in the black community. He also will discuss issues raised by Cosby, who has contended that social and economic ills among African Americans stem from their failure to take responsibility for their families and communities.

Williams has written several books, including “Thurgood Marshall: American Revolutionary,” “Eyes on the Prize: America’s Civil Rights Years, 1954-1965” and “This Far by Faith: Stories From the African American Religious Experience.” Before joining NPR, Williams was an editorial writer, columnist and White House reporter for The Washington Post.

The lecture is sponsored by the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs.

Conference examines state of black men

Nearly 50 speakers, including Princeton professors K. Anthony Appiah, Daphne Brooks, Melissa Harris-Lacewell and Carolyn Rouse, will address the second annual State of Black Men in America Conference on Sunday, March 3.

The students of Princeton’s Black Men’s Awareness Group are organizing the all-day conference titled “Six Faces of Being a Black Man,” which will feature seven panel discussions held across campus. The public is invited to attend sessions on the role of black male professionals; issues revolving around black men’s sexual health as well as mental health; the importance of religion in black male America; the plight of black men in the urban education system; and the black nuclear family.

Other speakers will include: William Jelani Cobb, assistant professor of history at Spelman College; Farrah Gray, founder of the Farrah Gray Foundation; J.L. King, president and chief executive officer of the Lillie Mae Foundation; Steven Pinker, the Johnstone Family Professor of Psychology at Harvard University; Mary Pattillo, professor of sociology and African American studies at Northwestern University; Roland Warren, president of the National Fatherhood Initiative; and Howard White, vice president of The Jordan Brand.

The event will begin at 8 a.m. with registration in the Frist Campus Center, and a welcome ceremony led by conference organizers at 9:30 a.m. in Richardson Auditorium, Alexander Hall. The day will end at 5:15 p.m. in McCosh Hall with a town hall meeting moderated by Bakari Kitwana, co-founder of National Hip-Hop Political Convention and former executive editor of The Source, and Dennis Rahiim Watson, chair of The National Task Force on Black Male Violence/Gangs and Achievement.

Registration is free for Princeton students, $20 for alumni, faculty and staff, and $30 for others. For a full schedule and to register, visit www.bmagconference.org.

Event highlights women entrepreneurs

A conference on women entrepreneurs is set for 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Thursday, March 1, in the Friend Center Convocation Room.

The conference, titled “Women Entrepreneurs: Inspirations and Innovations,” will feature panels with young entrepreneurs, company founders and corporate executives.

“The panelists represent women at all stages of their entrepreneurial journeys,” said Bob Monsour, associate director for external affairs in the University’s Center for Innovation in Engineering Education. “By hearing stories of these experienced women, we hope that young women attending the conference will be inspired to pursue their own entrepreneurial passions.”

The center is co-hosting the conference with the Integra LifeSciences Holdings Corp., the National Association of Women Business Owners-North Central Jersey Chapter and Association Business Solutions Inc.

The conference is free. For more information, visit the center’s website at commons.princeton.edu/ciee. To register, contact Stephanie Landers at slanders@princeton.edu or 258-3979.

Murphy returns for symposium on ‘Constitutional Democracy’ March 2

Constitutional Democracy: Creating and Maintaining a Just Political Order,” a new book by Princeton constitutional scholar Walter Murphy, is the focus of a symposium scheduled for 2 p.m. Friday, March 2, in the Whig Hall Senate Chamber.

Murphy, the McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence Emeritus, will join several colleagues and former students in discussing the book, which examines how constitutions are created and maintained over time. Murphy’s book addresses crucial questions about how constitutions emerge from conflicting views of politics and how they can be adapted to a changing political order.

Joining Murphy will be constitutional scholars Stephen Macedo, Kim Scheppele and Keith Whittington of Princeton as well as Sotirios Barber of the University of Notre Dame, Mark Brandon of Vanderbilt University, James Fleming of Fordham University and Jeffrey Tulis of the University of Texas-Austin.

Murphy, considered one of the most distinguished constitutional scholars of the 20th century, joined the Princeton faculty in 1958 and transferred to emeritus status in 1995. His other books include “Wiretapping on Trial,” “Elements of Judicial Strategy” and “Congress and the Court” as well as works of fiction that explore political and religious themes.

The symposium is sponsored by the Program in Law and Public Affairs, the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions, and the University Center for Human Values..

Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo (courtesy: Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo)

Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo at McCarter

Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo, the world’s foremost all-male comic ballet troupe, will take the stage at the McCarter Theatre Center at 8 p.m. Saturday, March 3.

The company performs the full range of the ballet and modern dance repertoire, incorporating and exaggerating the foibles, accidents and underlying incongruities of serious dance. For ticket information, contact the McCarter box office at 258-2787 or www.mccarter.org.

Friends to honor Fagles March 4

The Friends of the Library will hold a celebration in honor of professor Robert Fagles and his wife, Lynne, on Sunday, March 4, starting at 4 p.m. in the Chancellor Green Rotunda.

Fagles is the Arthur Marks ’19 Professor of Comparative Literature Emeritus and a renowned translator of Greek and Latin classics. Last fall, he was awarded the National Humanities Medal by President Bush.

Members of the Princeton faculty and former students of Fagles will read passages from Homer, Virgil and other ancient authors in the original language and from Fagles’ translations of them. Two of his own poems also will be read. The readings are open to the public.

The celebration will continue, for members of the Friends of the Library who have made reservations, with a reception and dinner at Prospect. To become a member of the Friends of the Library, call Linda Oliveira at 258-3155 or go to www.fpul.org.

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