Princeton recognizes advanced degree recipients in a time of ‘unprecedented challenges’
Denise Valenti, Office of Communications
May 24, 2021 4:44 p.m.
Princeton University’s graduate degree recipients and their mentors, family and friends gathered virtually on Monday, May 24, for the Graduate School’s 28th Hooding Ceremony. Many had also gathered in person on Sunday, May 16, for Princeton’s socially distanced Commencement, held for the first time at Princeton Stadium.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this was the second consecutive year in which the Hooding Ceremony was pre-recorded and broadcast online. The ceremony remains available for viewing.
In a pre-recorded message, Cole Crittenden, deputy dean and acting dean of the Graduate School, praised Princeton’s advanced degree recipients for their achievements “under extraordinarily difficult circumstances.”
Taishi Nakase selected as Princeton valedictorian, Lucy Wang named salutatorian
Emily Aronson, Office of Communications
April 26, 2021 5:26 p.m.
Taishi Nakase, an operations research and financial engineering concentrator from Melbourne, Australia, has been selected as valedictorian of Princeton’s Class of 2021. Lucy Wang, a chemistry concentrator from Marietta, Georgia, was named salutatorian.
The Princeton faculty accepted the nominations of the Faculty Committee on Examinations and Standing at its April 26 meeting.
Commencement for the Class of 2021 will take place at Princeton Stadium on Sunday, May 16. Nakase and Wang are expected to give remarks at the ceremony.
Taishi Nakase
Taishi Nakase
Nakase plans to become a doctor and is interested in using mathematical modeling to confront global health challenges. After Princeton, he will pursue a master of science in modeling for global health at Oxford University before attending medical school.
With labs still closed, science professors find creative ways to teach
Liz Fuller-Wright, Office of Communications
April 5, 2021 2:22 p.m.
Princeton faculty in engineering and the natural sciences have found a multitude of creative solutions to teach lab courses through the pandemic. For example, instructors for the mechanical and aerospace engineering course “Automated Control Systems” set up systems that allowed engineering students scattered across the globe to program a mechanical arm to balance a swinging rod a very modern take on the old game of balancing a broom upright in your hand.
Video by Nick Donnoli, Orangebox Pictures
Princeton faculty have found a number of innovative ways to teach remotely, from mailing archival materials to virtually choreographing dances. But how can you teach science when the labs themselves are shuttered?