Students in sustainability director Shana Weber’s class are connecting with the natural world – observing how non-human sounds are emergent in this other kind of “silent spring.” Read blog posts from her students about how they are experiencing nature in the time of pandemic and what this new awareness brings. The story also includes a springtime video clip from the Office of Sustainability and photos of campus settings.https://www.princeton.edu/news/2020/04/22/50th-anniversary-earth-day-students-connect-natural-world-time-pandemic

The 1,823 students offered admission for the CLASS OF 2024 make up a racially and ethnically diverse group of high schoolers: Of the accepted students from the United States, 61 percent self-identified as people of color, which Princeton defines as Asian, black, Hispanic, biracial or multiracial, and other non-white students. “These students are artists, scientists, athletes, musicians, caregivers, debaters, and much more,” said Dean of Admission Karen Richardson ’93. “Most importantly, through their applications, they showed a real desire to engage with others in the types of critical yet respectful discussions that make Princeton a dynamic place.”https://paw.princeton.edu/article/diversity-distinguishes-princetons-class-2024

In his piece published in Princeton Alumni Weekly, University President Christopher Eisgruber writes, “I take heart knowing that the Princeton community, wherever its members may be, remains strong in spirit, loyal to Old Nassau, and dedicated “to the nation’s service, and the service of humanity.” We are taking the steps, large and small, needed to combat this pandemic. I am especially grateful to the nurses, doctors, and others on our staff and among our alumni who are risking their own health to care for the sick.”https://paw.princeton.edu/article/hard-choices-pandemic

Brown was the Garrett Professor in Foreign Affairs, Emeritus, and professor of Near Eastern studies, emeritus, at Princeton University. He was a member of the Princeton faculty from 1966 to 1993 and served for many years as chair of the Department of Near Eastern Studies and director of the interdisciplinary Program in Near Eastern Studies. Brown trained many leading scholars in Middle East studies. He died in Mitchellville, Maryland, on April 8. “The late Professor Brown was the ‘dean’ of North African studies in the U.S.,” said M. Şükrü Hanioğlu, the Garrett Professor in Foreign Affairs and Professor of Near Eastern Studies. “He was a beloved colleague, caring and inspiring teacher, and prolific scholar who taught several generations of students at major institutions of learning in the United States. As a leading scholar in his field, he touched the minds of so many who follow in his footsteps. He contributed to many subfields of Middle Eastern history with many books, edited volumes, translations and pioneering articles ranging from Tunisian history to Islamic constitutionalism and from the Afro-Asian successors of the Ottoman Empire to diplomacy in the modern Middle East.”https://www.princeton.edu/news/2020/04/13/l-carl-brown-scholar-near-eastern-studies-dies-91

Conway, who joined the faculty in 1987, was the John von Neumann Professor in Applied and Computational Mathematics and a professor of mathematics until 2013 when he transferred to emeritus status. He died on Saturday, April 11, in New Brunswick, New Jersey, from complications related to COVID-19. “John Conway was an amazing mathematician, game wizard, polymath and storyteller who left an indelible mark on everyone he encountered — colleagues, students and beyond — inspiring the popular imagination just as he unraveled some of the deepest mathematical mysteries,” said Igor Rodnianski, professor of mathematics and chair of the Department of Mathematics. “His childlike curiosity was perfectly complemented by his scientific originality and the depth of his thinking. It is a great loss for us and for the entire mathematical world.”https://www.princeton.edu/news/2020/04/14/mathematician-john-horton-conway-magical-genius-known-inventing-game-life-dies-age

At their April meetings, the trustees of Princeton University reaffirmed the University’s commitment to affordability despite the economic challenges created by the COVID-19 pandemic. “Given the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting economic challenges, we expect that more of our students will need financial aid and that many students will need additional aid. We are committed to increasing the University’s financial aid budget to meet these needs so a Princeton education remains affordable for all students,” said Provost Deborah Prentice, the University’s chief budget officer and chair of the student-faculty-staff Priorities Committee that makes budget recommendations to the trustees.https://www.princeton.edu/news/2020/04/14/princeton-university-reaffirms-commitment-ensuring-princeton-education-affordable 

Goldsmith, who has served in campus-wide leadership roles at Stanford University, has been appointed dean of the School of Engineering and Applied Science at Princeton University effective Sept. 1. In addition to being widely recognized for fundamental contributions to the field of wireless communications, she has co-founded and served as chief technical officer for Quantenna Communications and Plume WiFi. She is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, two of the highest honors in U.S. academia.https://www.princeton.edu/news/2020/04/15/andrea-goldsmith-entrepreneur-and-leader-wireless-communications-appointed

President Christopher L. Eisgruber wrote to the undergraduate Class of 2020 to invite them to participate in a unique on-campus commencement ceremony to be held in the days before Reunions on either May 19 or May 20, 2021. He added that the University will “officially and enthusiastically” confer degrees to all seniors and graduate students earning their degrees in a virtual ceremony on May 31, 2020. The current plans for other year-end ceremonies traditionally held on campus in the spring are described in this story. The University will provide additional information about these events in the coming weeks.https://www.princeton.edu/news/2020/04/15/princeton-university-confer-degrees-class-2020-virtual-ceremony-may-31

Across the country, increasing numbers of doctors in training, Princeton alumni among them, are finding ways to help fight the global pandemic without violating social-distancing protocols. Medical students are participating in online research designed to improve COVID-19 treatments, coordinating volunteer efforts on social media, buying groceries and providing child care for overburdened health-care workers, educating the online public about everything from the biology of viruses to the importance of handwashing, and inventing ways to combat the loneliness and isolation of the homebound.https://paw.princeton.edu/article/doctors-training-limbo-alumni-med-students-find-ways-serve

Together with the Princeton University School of Architecture and STEAM Works Studio, the Studio Hillier group has established the Princeton PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) Collective, a group working together in various efforts to produce PPE for New Jersey hospitals and other first responders.http://www.towntopics.com/wordpress/2020/04/15/architects-pitch-in-making-face-shields-expanding-the-local-support-network/

Brothers Manraj Singh and Sunny Singh Sandhu never overlapped during their years at Princeton University. But the two Woodrow Wilson School students — Singh a 2016 graduate, Sandhu from the current senior class — have recently joined forces in a project that tackles social isolation for COVID-19 patients and provides remote access for health care workers on the front line. Connect for COVID-19, the first venture of their Digital Health Connectivity Project, is a fast-growing initiative that collects used smartphones, tablets, and laptops for hospitalized patients who lack them, so that they can be connected to their families while in isolation. The focus is on vulnerable populations, including senior citizens and the economically disadvantaged.http://www.towntopics.com/wordpress/2020/04/15/princeton-based-initiative-provides-digital-access-to-isolated-covid-19-patients/

As doctors around the country face shortages of masks and other personal protective equipment (PPE), a group of University alumni have banded together to supply masks to alumni serving on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic. The initiative Medical Supplies for Frontline Hospital Workers is run by Brian Sheng ’18, Rel Lavizzo-Mourey ’02, and Eric Sheng, Brian Sheng’s brother and an alumnus of the University of Pennsylvania. Since March 26, they have procured 20,000 surgical masks and 3,000 KN95 masks, and have shipped the supplies directly to alumni healthcare workers. Four thousand pieces of PPE have already arrived as of April 9.https://www.dailyprincetonian.com/article/2020/04/alumni-medical-supply-masks

As laboratories all across campus have halted research and shuttered their doors, members of the University community answered the call of service. Many individuals, ranging from administrators within the University’s Emergency Management Group to professors in the School of Architecture to costume designers in McCarter Theatre, have responded to Governor Phil Murphy’s call for universities, corporations, and other organizations to donate personal protective equipment (PPE). As of April 10, the Office of Environmental Health and Safety had donated 64,677 pieces of PPE to the New Jersey Office of Emergency Management, as well as the respective emergency management offices in the Municipality of Princeton and West Windsor Township. https://www.dailyprincetonian.com/article/2020/04/university-donates-ppe-covid

During this unsettling time, Princeton’s informal motto — “In the nation’s service and the service of humanity” — takes on an even greater resonance as we confront the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. From the front lines at the hospitals to the homefront of neighborhood communities, Princeton alumni, faculty, staff and students are helping fellow Tigers and serving others in need. Times like this remind us just how much we rely on relationships with communities of extraordinary people. We are launching a campaign of inspiring stories, and we are eager to hear about efforts, large and small, of #TigersHelping. Please post your stories using the hashtag #TigersHelping, follow @princetonalumni social media channels — including Facebook, Twitter and Instagram — or send an email to tigershelping@princeton.edu with how you and other Tigers are helping in the world today.
https://www.princeton.edu/news/2020/04/10/share-your-stories-tigershelping

The Princeton University: COVID-19 Response Special Activities and Resources Group (SARG) was convened by the University to evaluate, support and assist with non-research volunteer projects primarily focused on production, manufacturing, and donation. The group has already received a number of proposals from faculty and staff to use University spaces and equipment for these efforts. To propose a project, please visit SARG’s webpage.  Please contact SARG@princeton.edu with any queries about emerging projects. SARG also welcomes expressions of interest from Princeton faculty & staff to serve as a volunteer to support key projects.  After hours participation from University staff is voluntary, welcomed and appreciated. For those on paid release time at home, either because they are on rotation schedules or who otherwise do not have jobs that can be performed from home, we would welcome staff engagement. To learn more about how to volunteer, please visit SARG’s webpage.  Please contact Erin Metro with any questions about serving as a volunteer at emetro@princeton.edu

As part of Princeton’s ongoing efforts to support New Jersey and our neighboring communities, the University has made a number of donations to state and local partners that are working to help protect health care workers and emergency responders amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The University also is helping to address hunger and local food insecurity in a time of economic uncertainty, and will continue to work with the community and the state to find ways to help and support this fight over the long term.
https://www.princeton.edu/news/2020/04/10/university-strives-support-new-jersey-communities-during-coronavirus-pandemic

In their opinion piece for The New York Times, Princeton’s Anne Case and Angus Deaton write, “The health care industry has armored itself, employing five lobbyists for each elected member of Congress. But public anger has been building — over drug prices, co-payments, surprise medical bills — and now, over the fragility of our health care system, which has been laid bare by the pandemic. This anger could breach the protective cordon in Washington.”https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/14/opinion/covid-inequality-health-care.html

Princeton’s Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor speaks with The New Yorker’s David Remnick, an alum, about how the virus exacerbates the inequality of the American health-care system.
https://www.newyorker.com/podcast/political-scene/the-injustice-of-covid-19

In this NJ.com opinion piece co-authored by Princeton’s Laura Kahn, she and her colleagues advocate for the NJ One Health initiative. The authors’ message: “To preserve human health, we must use a global approach that embraces the health continuum of humans, animals, all other species and the communities in which we live. We believe that the One Health Initiative should not only be a priority for New Jersey but also nationally and that our regional program can serve as a framework for other states.”https://www.nj.com/opinion/2020/04/deadly-infectious-agents-like-covid-19-are-more-likely-as-our-contact-with-wildlife-grows-letter.html

Princeton researchers are applying their skills and abilities to tackling the COVID-19 pandemic in a variety of ways. See some of the many ways that the campus has responded on the new page created on the Princeton Research website. https://research.princeton.edu/research-administration/covid-19-information-researchers/covid-19-research-news