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Wednesday april 6, 2016 vol. cxl no. 41
{ www.dailyprincetonian.com } U N I V E R S I T Y A F FA I R S
Emily Carter named as Dean of Engineering School, effective July 1 By Caroline Lippman staff writer
COURESY OF CARTER’S FACULTY PAGE
Emily Carter will begin her tenure as Dean of SEAS in July.
Emily Carter, the University’s Founding Director of the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment and a professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering and applied and computational mathematics, has been appointed the next Dean of the School of Engineering and Applied Science, effective July 1. Carter said that she is hoping to make the Engineering School an even more welcoming place for all members of the University. “I’m hoping we’ll get students so excited at the undergraduate and graduate level about the work going on and the kinds of ways in which students can contribute and create and invent — and contribute to serving society — that it’ll draw in a very broad demographic that looks like the rest of the population,” Carter explained. Carter said she believes that part of what makes the Engineering School special is that it is deeply embedded in the University, where it can have an impact beyond engineering.
Regarding the role of the Dean, she said, “One very important aspect within Princeton is to continue to build bridges between the School of Engineering and the rest of campus. I worked very hard to do that in my role as Director of the Andlinger Center and I think that, now thinking in terms of a much broader portfolio of scholarship and teaching and activities, there are ways to engage really the whole University.” She explained that one of her goals as Dean will be to look at the School of Engineering and examine ways in which its departments can think more collectively. “I think there are opportunities within the School of Engineering to think more collectively about how we teach, and how we utilize the space we have, and just a lot of different ways in which it’ll be interesting, and a challenge, to take a fresh look at how we do what we do,” she explained. Vincent Poor, the outgoing Dean of the School of Engineering and Applied Science, said that he is delighted with the choice of Carter as his successor, and that he has worked closely
with her in her capacity as the founding director of the Andlinger Center. “I would say the most important aspects of the job are the inter-related responsibilities of representing the school to its various constituencies and assuring that the school’s faculty and students have the resources they need to succeed,” he said. Poor will return to teaching. In terms of the Engineering School’s goals and challenges for the next year, Poor noted that engineering is a dynamic and competitive field. He explained that the next decade will involve many challenges and opportunities in fields like biological engineering, data science, robotics and sustainable cities. According to Poor, the University will need to invest its energy and resources aggressively to stay at the forefront of these and the many other important areas of research and teaching in which its faculty and students are involved. University Media Relations Specialist Min Pullan deferred comment to the University’s press release announcing Carter’s appointment, in which University President Christopher See CARTER page 4
U N I V E R S I T Y A F FA I R S
STUDENT LIFE
U. staff members honored for dedication
Pride Alliance to hold events for Pride Month
By Kristin Qian staff writer
Winners of the President’s Achievement Award and the Donald Griffin ’23 Management Award were recognized at the annual Service Recognition Luncheon on March 24. 516 members of the University staff and administration were also honored at the luncheon for their service. According to the University’s press release, the recognized staff members have dedicated a total of 9,430 years of service, from 167 employees with 10 years of service, to 7 employees with 45 years of service. The President’s Achievement Award, established in 1997, is the highest level of recognition for employees on support and ad-
ministrative staffs. The award recognizes members of staff and administration who have been on campus for five or more years for their dedication, contributions and service. The recipients of the President’s Achievement Award were Suzanne Burchfield of the Landscape Grounds Shop, Brandon Gaines from the Office of Finance and Treasury, Peggy Henke in University Health Services, Jo Ann Kropilak-Love of the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and Irina Rivkin from Office of Information Technology. Burchfield, a horticulturalist, has been serving the Landscape Grounds Shop for 16 years and is currently crew leader, manSee SERVICE page 5
LECTURE
By Maya Wesby staff writer
In a lecture on Tuesday, Emmy Award-winning journalist Anisa Mehdi examined the Western media’s portrayal of Muslims and how that portrayal impacts American attitudes towards Islam. “Who are we afraid of? What are we afraid of?” she asked the audience. “Islam? No. Muslims? I don’t think so. Christianity? Christians? Judaism and Jews? Are we afraid of Hinduism or Buddhism or Atheists? No. Those are generalities,” she said, adding that
people should instead be afraid of ideologies of hate, a lack of engagement between different viewpoints and inaccuracy as opposed to inquiry. “We have this notion of Muslims as frightening… but remaining afraid is not going to do us any good, and it’s not going to further American foreign policy and, if we continue going the way we’re going, we’re not going to calm that fear,” she said. Mehdi is a broadcast journalist specializing in religion and the arts. She is known as the first American See MEHDI page 3
MARCIA BROWN :: CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER
In celebration of the annual Pride Month, the LGBT Center and the Pride Alliance taped the staircase between the first and ground floors of Frist Campus Center with rainbow colors.
By Marcia Brown staff writer
Since the Pride Week at the University expanded to Pride Month last year, the number of activities offered and number of participants during the month has grown. This year, the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Center and the Pride Alliance are organizing 16 events in April, according to Jean Bellamy ’19 and Nicolas Freeman ’18, copresidents of the Pride Alliance board. Pride Alliance is a group that represents the interests of the
LGBT and questioning members of the University community. Andy Cofino, the Center’s program coordinator, explained the LGBT Center advises, supports and checks in with the program every week, though the group is very student-run. This year’s Pride Month has many more events, as well as considerably larger expenditures and bigger ticket items, according to Freeman. “We want to reach out more to the Princeton campus,” they said. The events include workshops from writer Sinclair Sex-
In Opinion
Today on Campus
Columnist Iris Samuels comments on the decline of the admissions rate for another year in a row, and columnist Will Rivitz critiques the arguments presented by recent campus speaker Mary Anne Layden. Page 6.
12 p.m.: The Princeton Latin American Studies Program will host a lunch lecture “Borges frente a Góngora” with guest speaker Martha Lilia of El Colegio de Mexico. 216 Burr Hall.
smith on gender, sexuality and trigger warnings, speed-friending and karaoke, film screenings, art exhibits, lectures and cupcake decorating with the Princeton Aces, a group for asexual and questioning students, according to Freeman. For most events, attendance typically ranges from 40 to 70 people, with heavier attendance for the ticketed events like karaoke, Bellamy said. Pride Month events kicked off with the “We Are Here” Queer monologues in Wilson College Blackbox Theater April See PRIDE page 2
WEATHER
Mehdi discusses mass media portrayal of Islam
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