Celebrity | Princeton Magazine

Former U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry to Speak at NJPAC

By Taylor Smith

On Thursday, October 10 at 8 p.m., former U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will deliver a talk at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) in Newark. The event is presented by Fairleigh Dickinson University and is part of the New Jersey Speaker Series at NJPAC that has previously hosted former FBI Director James Comey, Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer Doris Kearns Goodwin, journalist and political activist Gloria Steinem, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, and Ian Bremmer, founder of the Eurasia Group. All events take place at NJPAC’s Prudential Hall. more

New York City Wine & Food Festival, October 10-13

By Taylor Smith

Tickets for the 2019 New York City Wine & Food Festival (NYCWFF), to be held October 10-13, are on sale now at https://nycwff.org.

Since its beginning, NYCWFF has raised over $12.5 million to help fight hunger. One hundred percent of the net proceeds from the event benefit Food Bank for New York City and the No Kid Hungry Campaign to end childhood hunger in America and the five boroughs of New York City. Every year, NYCWFF raises nearly $1 million for these charities, effectively aiding in the quest to end the hunger gap in our country. more

Joy Harjo Named First Native American Poet Laureate

By Taylor Smith

Poet, writer, activist, and musician Joy Harjo will succeed Princeton University professor Tracy K. Smith as the nation’s 23rd Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry. Announced by Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden, the appointment will make her the first Native American to occupy the position. more

Inductees Announced for the 2019 New Jersey Hall of Fame

By Taylor Smith

Governor Phil Murphy held a press conference at Newark Liberty International Airport on Monday, June 10 to reveal the 2019 inductees to the New Jersey Hall of Fame. Among this year’s class are Game of Thrones author and Bayonne native George R.R. Martin. Born in 1948, Martin’s father was a longshoreman. Now residing primarily in Santa Fe, N.M., Martin claims to still be a huge fan of the New York Jets, New York Giants, and New York Mets. more

Ira Glass Makes His Longwood Gardens Debut on June 16

Photo Credit: Sandy Honig

By Taylor Smith

Ira Glass, host and creator of This American Life, will deliver a special presentation on what he has learned about the art and interest of storytelling on Sunday, June 16 at 7:30 p.m. at Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, Pa. more

“Mickey: The True Original Exhibition” Opens in New York City

By Taylor Smith

On view through February 10, “Mickey: The True Original Exhibition” is at 60 10th Avenue in New York City. The 16,000-square-foot space in Chelsea, very close to The High Line, features both nostalgic and modern works from international artists, all of whom are inspired by classic images of the graphic, black-and-white mouse. more

Bobbi Brown and Steven Plofker’s  The George in Montclair

By Taylor Smith

Looking for a holiday getaway? Makeup mogul Bobbi Brown and her husband, entrepreneur Steven Plofker, have opened a stately and fashionable 32-room inn in the New York City suburb of Montclair. A 35-minute train ride from Midtown Manhattan, The George is the perfect weekend destination for tri-state area residents. more

Maestro Dudamel Comes to Princeton

Welcoming Classical Music’s International Champion

By Anne Levin

In a YouTube video taped at a concert in Caracas, Venezuela, on New Year’s Eve 2007, the power of music is vividly on display. The Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra and the Venezuelan Brass Ensemble — an unusually large group on one stage — are playing the “Mambo” from Leonard Bernstein’s West Side Story, and the place is rocking.

Audience members of all ages are on their feet, dancing, cheering, clapping, and tossing confetti at the stage. The musicians, having a hard time staying in their seats, manage to shimmy and sway as they play. On the podium leading this exhilarating pandemonium is Gustavo Dudamel, the youthful, curly-haired conductor who is a legend in his home country and a superstar in the music world. more

Ten Questions for Education Reformer Wendy Kopp

(And how Princeton played a role in Teach for America and Teach for All)

Photos Courtesy of Teach For All

Wendy Kopp, founder of the successful education access nonprofit organizations Teach For America, and more recently, Teach For All, was inspired by her time at Princeton University — as a 1989 graduate of the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. She realized she had access to a good public and college education, but not everyone did. Since then, she has worked tirelessly to make a quality education accessible to all. more

A Monument to Golf

The USGA Museum as seen at the USGA Headquarters, Golf House on Thursday April 13, 2006 in Far Hills, NJ. (Copyright USGA)

The USGA Museum and Arnold Palmer Center for Golf History

By Bill Alden | Photographs Courtesy of the USGA Museum

The famed architect John Russell Pope designed some of the iconic structures in Washington, D.C., including the Jefferson Memorial, the National Archives, and the West Building of the National Gallery of Art.

But it is one of Pope’s lesser-known creations, a stately brick mansion nestled in the rolling countryside of Far Hills, built in 1919, that has been transformed into a monument to the history of golf. more

Booker Urges University Graduates: “Tell Your Truth” and “Use Your Power”

HONORARY MEMBER, CLASS OF 2018: U.S. Senator Cory Booker, keynote speaker at Princeton University Class Day on Monday, puts on a 2018 jacket after being named an honorary member of the senior class. (Photo Courtesy of Princeton University, Office of Communications, Denise Applewhite)

By Donald Gilpin

Speaking at Princeton University Class Day on Monday, U.S. Senator Cory Booker urged the 2018 graduates to lead lives of humility and gratitude, and to “tell your truth, embrace the world, and use your power every day.”

A New Jersey Senator since 2014 and widely touted as a Democratic presidential candidate for 2020, Booker said, “I want to impart to you all that you are powerful. Power is not measured by your position or titles or wealth. People give up their power by not realizing that they have it in the first place.” more

Microsoft’s Brad Smith on the Power and Perils of Technology

Photo courtesy of Princeton University, Office of Engineering Communications, Andrea Kane (2018)

By Donald Gilpin

“Data Fallout at Facebook,” “Americans See AI as a Threat to Jobs,” “Digital Cash Made Easy (Fraud Too),” “Self-Driving Car Accidents Will Keep Happening,” “Russian Election Meddling,” “The Rise of Cyber Surveillance,” “Can Democracy Survive Big Data?”

The headlines overflow with ominous warnings about the unintended consequences of the rapid growth of technology in the 21st century. Our romance with artificial intelligence (AI) and our faith in its potential to improve our lives have clearly hit a rough patch. A self-driving car kills a pedestrian; Facebook accounts look like more of a liability than an asset to our personal lives and relationships, our freedom, and the stability of our political systems; our jobs are disappearing; and though our smartphones often bring us together and help to educate our children, they can also create more loneliness, less actual human contact, and more closed-mindedness. more

Q&A with Shirley M. Tilghman, President of Princeton University, Emeritus Professor of Molecular Biology and Public Affairs

Photo by Charles R. Plohn

Interview by Lynn Adams Smith

What have you been doing since stepping down as president of Princeton University, and how has your life changed?

After stepping down in July of 2013, I spent a year’s sabbatical, primarily in London, and have since returned to the faculty full time. I have been teaching in both the Freshman Seminar Program and in the Woodrow Wilson School, and working on science policy issues. My life seems to be almost as busy, but the major difference is that I have more control over my schedule. more

The Wizard We Never Knew

By William Uhl / Photographs Courtesy of Thomas Edison National Historic Park

Walking through the halls of Thomas Edison’s laboratory in Thomas Edison National Historical Park in West Orange, it’s easy to think history’s been frozen in time. From the chemical storage to his personal lounge, everything in the laboratory has been meticulously preserved and restored to look how Edison himself would have seen it. The material storage room still has everything ranging from iron bars to elephant hide, and the production floor has era-appropriate hats and jackets hanging on workers’ hooks. more

US Sen. Cory Booker Selected as 2018 Class Day Speaker at Princeton University

United States Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey has been selected to deliver the keynote address at the University’s Class Day ceremony on Monday, June 4.

Written by Princeton University’s Office of Communications

Class Day, which takes place the day before Commencement and is held on historic Cannon Green, is being organized by members of the graduating class and is one of Princeton’s oldest traditions. The ceremony also includes remarks by class members, the recognition of seniors for their accomplishments, and the induction of honorary class members. more

Patrick Kennedy is at Home in New Jersey

By Taylor Smith

Photography by Tom Grimes

The youngest son of Massachusetts Senator Ted Kennedy and Virginia Joan Kennedy, Patrick Kennedy has put down roots in Brigantine, New Jersey with his wife, Amy, and four children, Harper, Owen, Nora, and Nell. Amy is expecting their fifth child in May. A New Jersey native, Amy has more than 15 years’ experience working in New Jersey public schools and is the education director of The Kennedy Forum. Patrick lovingly refers to Amy as his “Jersey girl,” who grew up in a neighboring shore town. Located on the bayside of the Jersey Shore, a stone’s throw from Atlantic City, the Kennedy’s waterfront home is centered around family and the beauty of the natural setting. On the day of Princeton Magazine’s visit, seagulls were dive-bombing around Patrick’s boat and fine grains of sand blew across the roadway. more

The Power Of Music And Dance

The Leonard Bernstein and Jerome Robbins Centennials

By Donald H. Sanborn III

Legendary American composer, conductor, pianist, educator, and humanitarian Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990) once said, “I can’t live one day without hearing music, playing it, studying it, or thinking about it.” Audiences and museum visitors are having multiple opportunities this year to hear Bernstein’s music and think about it. In March, Princeton University’s Richardson Chamber Players presented “Bernstein and Friends: A Centennial Celebration.” Institutions such as Symphony Space and the National Museum of American Jewish History also will celebrate the maestro’s centennial. Aficionados of the work of choreographer Jerome Robbins (1918-1998) will have similar opportunities. more

Bill Murray at McCarter Theatre, April 5

New Worlds: Bill Murray, Jan Vogler & Friends

Bill Murray, actor
Jan Vogler, cello
Mira Wang, violin
Vanessa Perez, piano

Thursday, April 5 at 7:30 p.m.

“Spot on. The evening’s journey was unpredictable and affecting – old-fashioned entertainment that was sophisticated but with zip and heart.” – Globe & Mail more

Photographing the First Lady: Michelle Obama, Up Close and Personal

First Lady Michelle Obama tours the Mirror Room in the Italian Pavilion with Mrs. Agnese Landini at the Milan Expo 2015 in Milan, Italy, June 18, 2015. Mrs. Obama led the presidential delegation to the expo, “Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life.” (Official White House Photo by Amanda Lucidon)

By Anne Levin // Photos Courtesy of Amanda Lucidon from Chasing Light: Michelle Obama Through the Lens of a White House Photographer (Ten Speed Press).

This past November, photographer Amanda Lucidon spoke at Princeton Public Library about her new book Chasing Light: Michelle Obama Through the Lens of a White House Photographer. The large crowd that turned out was no surprise. Princeton is a very blue town in a blue state, and the evening promised a bit of nostalgia for those who miss the days when Barack and Michelle Obama, Malia, Sasha, and their dogs were in the White House. more

Furniture Designer Mira Nakashima at D&R Greenway

Mira Nakashima

D&R Greenway Land Trust presents a special evening with renowned furniture designer Mira Nakashima on Thursday, March 22 (doors open 6:30 p.m., talk begins at 7 p.m.) at the Johnson Education Center, 1 Preservation Place, Princeton. Admission costs $10 person.

Mira Nakashima, the daughter of legendary furniture sculptor George Nakashima, will tell the story of the family’s woodworking legacy, followed by a signing of her book, Nature, Form, and Spirit: The Life and Legacy of George Nakashima. Nakashima pieces will be displayed and available for purchase, including a three-legged stool, candle holders, pencil holders, and bread boards. more