Princeton Alumni Weekly

09/26/2025

Haoran Li, a postdoctoral researcher in electrical and computer engineering who recently defended his Ph.D. dissertation at Princeton, died at his home in West Windsor Sept. 25, according to a message from University administrators.

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Haoran Li, a postdoc in electrical and computer engineering, recently defended his Ph.D. dissertation at Princeton

09/26/2025

As Princeton implements 5% to 10% permanent budget cuts over the next three years, the effects are just starting to be felt.

Possibly the most visible cut has been the cancellation of Wintersession, the two-week period before the spring semester during which free, noncredit workshops and other activities had been offered since 2021.

In addition, the University announced undergraduate dorms will be closed to students over winter break, except for those who receive special approval.

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Some changes are visible already as departments begin three years of fiscal belt-tightening

09/17/2025

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to take up toymaker Rick Woldenberg ’81’s case in which he argues the Trump administration’s new tariffs will be disastrous for his fourth-generation family business.

Woldenberg called the announcement gratifying and predicted a “substantive ruling [on] whether the tariffs are lawful or not, and if they aren’t, the court will then have to make provisions to fashion a remedy.”

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Woldenberg says President Trump’s tariffs would be disastrous for this fourth-generation family business

09/16/2025

Princeton’s Carbon Mitigation Initiative will end its 25-year partnership with BP at the end of 2025, when the fossil-fuel company’s latest five-year contract to fund the initiative concludes.

The decision was reached mutually, according to professor Stephen Pacala, the program’s director and co-founder.

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Administration Princeton’s Carbon Mitigation Initiative and BP End 25-Year Partnership By Lia Opperman ’25 Published Sept. 16, 2025 3 min read Copied to clipboard Image Carbon Mitigation Initiative co-founders Robert Socolow, left, and Stephen Pacala made headlines in 2024 for their Science pape...

09/10/2025

Irina Verona ’94 and her co-founder Jennifer Carpenter have built their architecture practice around inclusion. Their work has brought Verona back to Princeton University, where her firm led a major redesign and refresh of Prospect House.

“I think a lot of people kind of relate to accessibility in that way where you have a code, you have to make it bigger, you have to fit the wheelchair,” she says. “But actually thinking about inclusion as allowing more people to participate is more meaningful to us. … Princeton cares a lot about this, so it was a great fit.”

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‘Princeton cares a lot about this, so it was a great fit,’ Verona says

09/09/2025

Elizabeth Tsurkov, an Israeli-Russian doctoral student at Princeton University who was held hostage in Iraq for 903 days, has been freed by the Iran-backed militia Kataib Hezbollah, according to President Donald Trump.

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Tsurkov was freed by Iran-backed militia Kataib Hezbollah, according to President Donald Trump

09/08/2025

By going straight from his tiny Indiana town to big, worldly Princeton University, did Norm Tabler ’66 rise too fast? In an essay for PAW, Tabler likens the experience to the bends, a painful condition experienced by scuba divers.

“I was in pain but didn’t suffer the academic equivalent of fatality, neither flunking out nor withdrawing. With the energy and resilience of youth, I adapted and survived. By the end of freshman year, the pain was gone. I had survived the bends.”

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‘Rising fast can be painful. … But the condition is rarely fatal, and the pain disappears with time’

09/05/2025

On the night of June 23, Michael Holl ’03 stood outside his apartment in Doha, Qatar, and watched Iranian missiles streak across the sky. Holl had seen missiles in flight before. Lots of them. Some even aimed at him.

But nothing like this.

Holl is a retired lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Air Force, with 20 years of combat experience flying F-15 fighter jets, including four combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan and two more in Eastern Europe. For the past two years, he has been sharing that knowledge with the Qatari air force.

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Longtime U.S. F-15 pilot Michael Holl ’03 reenters the Middle East tinder box working with the Qatari air force

09/04/2025

Seyed Hossein Mousavian, a Middle East security and nuclear policy specialist in Princeton’s Program on Science and Global Security, retired on June 1 after 15 years at the University. His departure comes following pressure from a nonprofit that opposes the Iranian regime and a November 2023 investigation by the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, which alleged that Mousavian used his academic role to advance Iranian interests.

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Seyed Hossein Mousavian, a Middle East security and nuclear policy specialist, had been targeted by opponents of the Iranian regime and investigated by Congress

09/03/2025

Giri Nathan ’13, co-founder of Defector Media, has a new book out in this U.S. Open season: “Changeover: A Young Rivalry and a New Era of Men’s Tennis” explores the developing rivalry between players Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz.

He got the idea from watching the now-legendary 2022 U.S. Open quarterfinals match between Sinner and Alcaraz. “The absurd athleticism and shotmaking they were showing in that match looked very unlike anything I was seeing between any other pair of players on the tour.”

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Some say it’s too early to elevate Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz, but the co-founder of Defector Media disagrees

09/03/2025

Stunt performer Kent De Mond ’07 did not hesitate when asked if PAW could set him on fire for a photograph. The photo appears on the cover of PAW’s September issue.🔥🐅

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https://paw.princeton.edu/kent-de-mond-stuntman-on-fire-fall-guy

09/01/2025

The federal government has recently restored about half of the research grants to Princeton scientists that were suspended in early April, University President Christopher Eisgruber ’83 told PAW in an interview. The multi-year grants totaled approximately $200 million when they were initially awarded, though some of the money had already been disbursed by the time they were suspended.

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Christopher Eisgruber ’83 tells PAW, ‘We continue to talk to the Department of Energy about that fact that we think that all of these grants are in places where we share priorities with the Trump administration’