She Roars

Princeton is joining other universities around the world by responding to coronavirus in striking and innovative ways. From new, pandemic-related research to solutions-driven engineering; from philosophical and social inquiry to digital adaptations, student support, community service, entrepreneurialism and more — the greater Princeton community is doubling down on our core mission and strengthening our bonds. … Continue reading "‘We Roar’: A new Princeton University podcast about coronavirus (COVID-19) and our community"

Celebrated playwright and theater director Emily Mann was raised, if not born, to “make trouble.” Growing up on the South Side of Chicago during the height of the civil rights movement, she decided at an early age that theater was her best tool for effecting change. Her stage career blossomed in step with the feminist … Continue reading "Emily Mann: On 30 years of ‘making trouble’ in America’s theater world"

Catherine Riihimaki knows her way around environmental issues. She’s a geoscientist and a science communications expert with the Princeton Council on Science and Technology. From that perch, she works with colleagues across the University to help educate a STEM-literate society through formal and informal experiences. Her newest channel is “All for Earth” – a podcast … Continue reading "Catherine Riihimaki: On her new environmental podcast called ‘All for Earth’"

Maribel Hernandez Rivera, a graduate alumna from 2010, reflects on her childhood experience as an undocumented immigrant and now champion of immigrant rights. She attributes her personal success — measured in scholarships from Phillips Exeter Academy, Harvard, Princeton and NYU — to extraordinary luck and exceptional mentors. Maribel has deployed her education towards improving immigration … Continue reading "Maribel Hernandez Rivera: On immigration"

Jo first came to Princeton as a postdoc in 2006, when she worked on data from the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP), a space telescope that took the universe’s earliest baby pictures. When she ran her code on that data, she was briefly the only person in the world to know the precise age of … Continue reading "Jo Dunkley: On studying the origins of the universe — and sharing her love of space with the public"

Wendy Kopp, Class of 1989, was a groundbreaking social entrepreneur long before the term was invented. She conceptualized Teach for America as part of her senior thesis and founded the organization shortly after graduation. It is based a single big idea: the most promising future leaders coming out of college could have profound social impact … Continue reading "Wendy Kopp: On 30 years of educational disruption"

Juliet Eilperin, Class of 1992, is a journalist for The Washington Post with an unusual pair of specialties: congressional politics and the environment. Juliet’s first book was “Fight Club Politics: How Partisanship is Poisoning the House of Representatives.” She began covering environmental issues in 2004 and shares her views on the challenges of that beat … Continue reading "Juliet Eilperin: On swimming with sharks in Washington, D.C., and beyond"

Stephanie Mash Sykes, Class of 2004, is eyeing the future of American cities. As executive director of the African American Mayors Association, she’s focused on the panoply of issues facing black urban leaders today — from demographic trends that are re-shaping their constituencies to new technologies that are re-defining political engagement. She discusses the new wave … Continue reading "Stephanie Mash Sykes: On city politics and African American mayors"

Online journalist Maria Ressa, Class of 1986, knows the best and the worst of social media. It helped drive the Philippines-based news site she co-founded, called Rappler, to 300% growth rates in its early years. Today, she warns that the weaponization of social media threatens the very existence of Rappler, free speech, her own freedom, … Continue reading "Maria Ressa: On the existential threat facing free speech, journalism and democracy around the world"

Emily Carter, the outgoing dean of Princeton’s School of Engineering and Applied Science, looks back on 15 years at Princeton and forward to her new job as the second-ranking executive officer of UCLA. Her vision for UCLA is grand, inclusive, service-focused … and distinctly urban.  “Basically,” she explains, “the way cities go is the way the … Continue reading "Emily Carter: On universities in the service of humanity at Princeton and beyond"

Joanne Ramos, Class of 1995, tackles issues that are both timely and eternal in her powerful new novel exploring surrogacy as big business. She shines a light on social class, immigration, and the trade-offs women often make to secure independence and their children’s future.  Joanne’s plot imagines a world just over the horizon from existing surrogacy … Continue reading "Joanne Ramos: On motherhood, literature and her fictional debut"

Jen Rexford, Class of 1991 and chair of Princeton’s computer science department, has seen it all. From tinkering with the first consumer PCs in 1984 to saving the internet as we know it, Jen has been at the forefront of her field during an epoch of extraordinary advancement … and there’s much more to come. … Continue reading "Jennifer Rexford: On the exciting, exponentially enriching delights of a computational life"

Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, Class of 2000, has produced and directed award-winning documentaries all over the world, most recently the jaw-dropping “Free Solo,” for which she won the 2019 Academy Award for Best Documentary Film. In the film, Chai documents the physical and emotional journeys of world-class climber Alex Honnold as he attempts to summit Yosemite’s … Continue reading "Chai Vasarhelyi: On making a difference through film — and winning an Oscar"

PowerPoint presentations on global warming aren’t usually met with standing ovations, but Kathleen Biggins and her group of traveling speakers are getting used to them — even in the most conservative communities they visit. Their roadshow is called C-Change Conversations. They bring it to the curious and the skeptical in country clubs, rotary clubs, garden … Continue reading "Kathleen Biggins: On changing minds about climate change – one non-partisan conversation at a time"

How hard could it be? After working her way through Georgetown, Harvard, Stanford and now Princeton, Sadaf Jaffer has just become the mayor of Montgomery Township in New Jersey. Sadaf is the state’s first mayor from the South Asian community and she’s committed to ensuring that she is not the last. But that’s just in … Continue reading "Sadaf Jaffer: On breaking political boundaries"

Lynn Loo, a 2001 graduate alumna and director of the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment, says this is an “all-hands-on-deck” moment for everyone with skills or technology to address climate change. She describes the Andlinger Center’s mission to mobilize engineers such as herself and academics across the University to form partnerships with each … Continue reading "Lynn Loo: On climate change and the “all-hands-on-deck” moment"

Mellody Hobson, Class of 1991, speaks out on the latest episode of the “She Roars” podcast to demystify principles of investing and discuss her own efforts to combat dangerously high rates of financial illiteracy in America today. “I find that children become the gateway drug to parents, and I mean that in the best way. … Continue reading "Mellody Hobson: On being a national leader in financial literacy"

Courtney Banghart, head coach of Princeton’s women’s basketball team, “talks the walk” about team building, shedding fears of failure and taking every three-point shot that opens up in life. She discusses basketball, too — as well as the surreal experience of joining the Pope and Bill & Melinda Gates on Fortune Magazine’s list of 50 … Continue reading "Courtney Banghart: On taking every three-point shot that opens up in life"

As deputy director of science and technology for Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Patricia Falcone ’74 has been at the forefront of women in science since becoming one of the first female engineering majors at Princeton. She now oversees the strategic development of Livermore’s scientific capabilities and is responsible for its collaborative research with academia and … Continue reading "Patricia Falcone: On women in science and weird stories from the front lines"

Laura Trevelyan, host of BBC World News America and Princeton parent, has a rare perspective on the United States’ role in the world. She covered her first U.S. presidential election campaign in 2004 and began focusing on the United Nations in 2006. It all became personal in 2016 when the British-born journalist was sworn in as … Continue reading "Laura Trevelyan: On Brexit, America’s role in the world and ‘having it all’ at the same time"

Asha Rangappa, Class of 1996, is an expert on counterintelligence investigations and the law behind them.  A former special agent for the FBI and associate dean at Yale Law School, Asha is now a senior lecturer at Yale’s Jackson Institute for Global Affairs — as well as a legal and national security analyst for CNN. In … Continue reading "Asha Rangappa: On kicking down doors and tracking the Mueller Investigation"

Journalist Indira Lakshmanan was a special guest on campus. She visited Princeton to give the third annual Distinguished Teaching Lecture in Service and Civic Engagement. Indira has reported from 80 countries over the years. She has covered coups, campaigns and revolutions working for the Boston Globe, Bloomberg News, the International New York Times, and many … Continue reading "Indira Lakshmanan: On journalism as a public service and holding the government accountable"

Frances Arnold, Class of 1979, knew a good thing when she saw it in her laboratory some 25 years ago – and the results were game changing. Defying the prevailing wisdom, Frances innovated a completely new way to engineer enzymes that is now pushing the boundaries of green chemistry, biofuel production and more sustainable industrial … Continue reading "Frances Arnold: On her Nobel Prize in chemistry and how chemical and bioengineering can save the planet"

Helen Zia ’73 is an award-winning journalist, activist and scholar who has covered Asian American communities and social and political movements for decades. She has been outspoken on issues ranging from civil rights and peace to women’s rights and countering hate violence and homophobia. She is the former Executive Editor of Ms. Magazine and author … Continue reading "Helen Zia: On walking the talk in politically divided times"

Jennifer Epstein ’08 is on the frontlines of national politics as one of the younger members of the national press corp. Currently White House Correspondent for Bloomberg News, she began covering the Obama administration just four years out of Princeton and spent her 26th birthday aboard Air Force One. Six years on, she’s a veteran … Continue reading "Jennifer Epstein: On White House reporting in the age of Trump"

Princeton Emeritus Professor Nancy Weiss Malkiel discusses the pivotal few years around 1969 when a handful of elite, all-male universities in the U.S. and the U.K. suddenly took steps to admit women. Princeton was at the forefront — and Nancy was an eyewitness to all that unfolded. A historian, Nancy joined the Princeton faculty in … Continue reading "Nancy Malkiel: On letting the “damn women” in"