From the Princeton Weekly Bulletin, March 10, 1997
First Dale Fellow named
By Justin Harmon
Senior Cyrus Etemad will be the first recipient of the University's new Martin A. Dale '53 Fellowship, which will enable him to devote the year following graduation to an independent project.
Etemad's project arises from several years' experience researching and photographing abandoned military sites, ranging from World War I-era coastal fortifications to launching facilities of obsolete nuclear missiles. He plans to use photography and text to explore "the histories of these programs and sites, as well as their changing social contexts; the historical interplay between military technology and architecture and defense planning and strategy, particularly during the Cold War; and the nature of obsolescence and ruin," he says. He will do research at the National Archives in Washington, DC, as well as such sites as the Air Force History Office in Huntsville, Ala., with the intention of producing both a publishable manuscript and a mountable exhibition.
"My goal is to fuse the analytic and the creative in a single work, in a way that may ultimately guide me in choosing a direction for the future," Etemad says.
A Woodrow Wilson School major, he is also earning certificates in the Environmental Studies and Visual Arts programs. His senior thesis concerns high-level nuclear waste disposal in the United States, particularly the problem of interim storage.
Last summer Etemad studied architectural design, history and theory at Harvard's Graduate School of Design, and in 1995 he used a semester's advanced standing at Princeton to enable him to work full time as a research intern at Conservation International in Washington, DC. His photographs have had solo exhibitions at Stanford University's Bechtel Center and at the Branson Gallery in Marin County, Calif. He has worked for the past two years as an assistant preparator at the Art Museum, matting prints, drawings and photography.
Independent initiative
The new Dale postgraduate fellowship, which was announced in the fall, enables the recipient to pursue an independent project meant to widen his or her experience of the world and significantly advance his or her personal growth and intellectual development. The award carries a grant of $20,000. The recipient is chosen on the basis of a proposal, particularly its clarity of focus and feasibility, as well as the candidate's integrity and intellectual or creative talent.
In 1991 Dale created a program of summer fellowships, which are awarded to several sophomore students each year and are intended to provide them with opportunities for personal growth; to foster independence, creativity and leadership skills; and to broaden or deepen some area of special interest.