Summertime greetings from the Office of Communications! Starting with this issue, we are evolving the Weekly Bulletin to showcase content around key themes and institutional priorities, alongside campus updates. For example, below, you will find items focused on Innovation, Diversity & Inclusion, and the Environment, as well as pieces on Toni Morrison and Xiyue Wang. We will be reaching out to readers over the coming weeks for feedback and input. Best, Ben Chang and Mike Hotchkiss

Steven Scott Gubser, a professor of physics at Princeton and a highly accomplished scholar of string theory and black holes, died as a result of a rock-climbing accident on Saturday, Aug. 3, in Chamonix, France. He was 47 years old. At the time of his death, Gubser was on vacation in Europe with his family.

On Aug. 7, 2016, authorities in Iran detained Princeton history graduate student Xiyue Wang in Tehran, where he remains held in Evin prison. Sarah-Jane Leslie, dean of the Graduate School, issued the following statement Aug. 7, 2019, appealing for Wang’s immediate release. (Media coverage from Bloomberg, The New York Times and CNN.)

World-renowned writer and Nobel laureate Toni Morrison, the Robert F. Goheen Professor in the Humanities, Emeritus, at Princeton University, died Monday, Aug. 5. She was 88. (Media coverage from The Wall Street Journal, CNN and Inside Higher Ed.)

More from Princeton:

• Video highlighting Morrison’s enduring legacy on campus, featuring President Eisgruber’s remarks at the 2017 dedication of Morrison Hall. 
• Twitter thread celebrating Morrison’s life and legacy through her words, career accomplishments and thoughts from around the world.

How does a curator create a museum exhibition? What does a day in the life of a working artist look like? How do science and technology help conserve art? How do issues of diversity and representation affect artists and professionals in the field?

In the media:

Princeton University Ranks Highest Among Tri-State Schools in Princeton Review’s ‘Great Financial Aid,’ Survey (NBC New York) 

Princeton University Named Among ‘Best’ For Financial Aid (Patch) 

The 25 Best Colleges in America, According to 19,000 Data Points on Cost and Quality (Money)

Climate change may be depriving juvenile fish of their most crucial early food source by throwing off the synchronization of when microscopic plants known as phytoplankton bloom and when fish hatch, according to Princeton researchers. The long-term effect on fish reproductivity could mean fewer fish available for human consumption.

Wells that extract natural gas from underground often leak large amounts of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, into the air. A team of Princeton researchers has found that, in one of the biggest gas-producing regions, most of these emissions come from a tiny subset of the wells, a finding with major implications for how to control the problem.

Young people enrolled in the pre-apprenticeship program at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory are shadowing skilled technicians on tasks such as welding components for PPPL’s flagship fusion experiment or repairing the massive motor generators that power it. As they learn, they are preparing for their own future. (Media coverage from ROI and Insider NJ.)

More from Princeton: 

• Entrepreneurship Club students help transfer Princeton biotech research to business ventures
• Small but mighty: A mini plasma-powered satellite under construction may launch a new era in space exploration
• Innovative tiny laser has potential uses in drug quality control, medical diagnosis, airplane safety
• Students Marquardt and Shah win Slavin Fellowships for work in entrepreneurship

In the news:

• Princeton startup Offchain Labs speeds, secures blockchain application development (ROI)  
• Could a Jersey lab be the key to unlocking the sun’s energy on Earth? (NJTV)
• Incentive to innovate: Zwicker says new legislation will boost N.J. economy, help it keep up with rival states (ROI)

Rodney Priestley, professor of chemical and biological engineering and a leading researcher in the area of complex materials and processing, has been named Princeton’s vice dean for innovation, effective Feb. 3. The newly created position provides academic leadership for innovation and entrepreneurship activities across campus. (Media coverage from ROI and The Chronicle of Higher Education.