• Employee retirements: February 2020 https://www.princeton.edu/news/2020/02/26/employee-retirements-february-2020

• Employee obituaries: February 2020 https://www.princeton.edu/news/2020/02/26/employee-obituaries-february-2020

Piroué was the Henry DeWolf Smyth Professor of Physics, Emeritus, at Princeton University. He became a faculty member in 1961 and transferred to emeritus status in 2001. Professor of Physics Chris Tully, who earned his Ph.D. in 1998 and “may officially have been Piroué’s last student,” said: “In retirement, Pierre Piroué’s wisdom and advice continued to adorn and enlighten generations of students. … I so enjoyed sitting with him, discussing my students and research. He helped me discover the best I could be and my students, they loved him.” https://www.princeton.edu/news/2020/02/19/pierre-piroue-renowned-researcher-high-energy-experimental-physics-dies-88

Sharing “fake news” happens with the click of a button, leaving researchers curious about who is sharing it and why. Professor Andrew Guess will seek to better understand this phenomenon using funding from the Social Science Research Council (SSRC). http://wws.princeton.edu/news-and-events/news/item/guess-receives-research-funding-study-misinformation-fake-news

Magnetic field lines that wrap around the Earth protect our planet from cosmic rays. Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory have now found that beams of fast-moving particles launched toward Earth from a satellite could help map the precise shape of the field. This mapping could provide insight into a region of the Earth’s upper atmosphere known as the ionosphere, as well as the magnetosphere, the region of outer space affected by Earth’s magnetic field, and help scientists predict how plasma belched from the sun can disrupt telecommunications satellites, cell phone calls, and global positioning systems. https://www.pppl.gov/news/2020/02/particle-beam-could-help-map-earth’s-magnetic-field-understand-how-space-weather

Clifford Brangwynne, a professor of chemical and biological engineering and an investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI), was part of a team of researchers who first discovered liquid structures within living cells that organize and carry out important functions without the use of membranes. The work opened a new frontier in bioengineering, revealing fundamental insights into cell growth, protein manufacturing and stress management, and spurring further research into neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s and Huntington’s. https://www.princeton.edu/news/2020/02/19/brangwynne-pioneer-cell-biology-receives-wiley-prize-biomedical-sciences

The University Administrative Fellowship program embeds students into departments across campus where they can apply their research skills, test out career opportunities and build their resumes prior to completing their degrees. It has more than doubled in size just in the past year. The program has become a signature feature of GradFUTURES, a campus-wide collaborative initiative aimed at integrating and expanding professional development programs for students earning a terminal master’s degree or Ph.D. https://www.princeton.edu/news/2020/02/21/university-administrative-fellows-program-prepares-phds-careers-within-and-beyond

The walls of Frist’s dining area are decorated to honor 50 years of undergraduate coeducation, with timelines of significant female firsts, vintage photos of determined young faces and inspirational quotations from trailblazing alumnae. This exhibit on the lower level of Frist is titled “Sis! Boom! Ah!” Upstairs, in a separate display titled “Reflections of 50 Years of Undergraduate Women at Princeton,” alumnae recall just how much has changed since 1969. https://www.princeton.edu/news/2020/02/20/alumnae-leaders-reflect-50-years-undergraduate-coeducation-princeton

Super Bowl-winning running back Marshawn Lynch, who is known for his community service and social justice work, has been selected to speak at Princeton’s Class Day on Monday, June 1. https://www.princeton.edu/news/2020/02/25/nfl-star-social-activist-marshawn-lynch-will-speak-princeton-class-day

Nobel laureate Kip Thorne and civil liberties leader Anthony D. Romero praised the power of people working together to inspire others — through science or society — during Princeton’s Alumni Day on Saturday, Feb. 22. Romero, a Class of 1987 alumnus from Princeton’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, is the longtime executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). Thorne, who earned his Ph.D. in physics from Princeton in 1965, is co-winner of the 2017 Nobel Prize in Physics and the Feynman Professor of Theoretical Physics, Emeritus, at the California Institute of Technology. Romero received the Woodrow Wilson Award, the University’s highest honor for undergraduate alumni, while Thorne was given the James Madison Medal, the top award for graduate alumni. https://www.princeton.edu/news/2020/02/24/working-together-inspiration-public-service-and-innovation-are-central-themes

Princeton University President Christopher L. Eisgruber joined Princeton municipal officials Monday, Feb. 24, to discuss a range of mutual interests that will impact the University and the community in the coming years, including equity and diversity, immigration, sustainability and growth. In advance of the meeting, the University prepared a summary of various contributions to and partnerships with the town in 2019. https://www.princeton.edu/news/2020/02/26/eisgruber-princeton-officials-discuss-diversity-sustainability-and-other-shared https://www.princeton.edu/news/2020/02/26/university-contributions-princeton-town-2019-summary

An innovative protection against website counterfeiting developed by Princeton researchers went live on the internet Feb. 19, boosting security for hundreds of millions of websites. The rollout was the culmination of over two years of close collaboration between research groups at Princeton and Let’s Encrypt, the world’s largest certificate authority serving 200 million websites. https://www.princeton.edu/news/2020/02/21/internet-security-borne-out-collaboration-between-princeton-and-lets-encrypt

Six research discoveries with the potential to provide benefit to society have been awarded funding from the University’s Intellectual Property Accelerator Fund, which aims to speed the development of innovative projects into real-world applications. One of the winning technologies this year aims to reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke through treatments that inhibit the enzyme Nocturnin (pictured).

PPPL scientists have published research at a clip of some 300 articles a year in peer-reviewed journals, conference proceedings, or presented at scientific meetings over the decade. The Lab has compiled a list of 10 highlights over the past 10 years featuring five research breakthroughs and five key developments that provide quick insight into the breadth of research and development at PPPL – from fusion to astrophysics to nanotechnology. https://www.pppl.gov/news/2020/02/decade-fusion-astrophysics-and-nanotechnology-pppl

Princeton University senior Sarah Hirschfield has been awarded a Gates Cambridge Scholarship. The awards give outstanding students from outside the United Kingdom the opportunity to pursue postgraduate study at the University of Cambridge. The program was established in 2000 by a donation from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to Cambridge to build a global network of future leaders committed to improving the lives of others. https://www.princeton.edu/news/2020/02/14/princeton-senior-hirschfield-wins-gates-cambridge-scholarship-study-philosophy

Vinicius de Aguiar Furuie, Talmo Pereira, Karan Singh and Raissa von Doetinchem de Rande have been named winners of the Porter Ogden Jacobus Fellowship, Princeton University’s top honor for graduate students. https://www.princeton.edu/news/2020/02/13/four-win-jacobus-fellowship-princetons-top-graduate-student-honor

Princeton University seniors Emma Coley and Ben Press have been named co-winners of the 2020 Moses Taylor Pyne Honor Prize, the highest general distinction conferred on an undergraduate. They will be recognized at a luncheon during Alumni Day on campus Saturday, Feb. 22. https://www.princeton.edu/news/2020/02/13/princeton-university-seniors-coley-press-win-pyne-prize

Everything a cell does, from dividing in two to migrating to a different part of the body, is controlled by enzymes that chemically modify other proteins in the cell. Researchers at Princeton University have devised a new mathematical technique to describe the behavior of many cellular enzymes. The approach, published February 13 in the journal Current Biology, will help researchers determine how genetic mutations change the behavior of these enzymes to cause a range of human diseases, including cancer. https://discovery.princeton.edu/2020/02/13/mathematical-model-reveals-behavior-of-cellular-enzymes/

Electrons race along the surface of certain unusual crystalline materials, except that sometimes they don’t. Two new studies from Princeton researchers and their collaborators explain the source of the surprising behavior and chart a course for restoring the speedy flow of electrons through these remarkable crystals, prized for their potential use in future technologies including quantum computers. https://www.princeton.edu/news/2020/02/13/fast-and-fragile-two-new-studies-explain-strange-electron-flow-future-materials