March 13, 2002: Notebook
Rockefeller,
Forbes, Wilson, now Whitman
Meg Whitman 77s gift puts her in a league of her own
African-American studies grows
In answering the ocean’s call, English professor Jonathan Lamb found himself in some precarious situations this past summer, including being interviewed while clinging to the top mast of one of history’s most famous ships.
The high-flying academic, who has written and edited several books on exploration and the South Seas, including Exploration and Exchange, Preserving the Self in the South Seas (2000) and Voyages and Beaches: Pacific Encounters, 1769—1840 (1999), served as one of the consultants on a BBC historical adventure series that retraces part of Captain James Cook’s exploratory voyage through the South Seas on the HMS Endeavor in the 18th century.
“I had to be a sailor,” said Lamb, who had previously only sailed short distances on smaller ships. For the BBC project, he spent six weeks on a replica of the Endeavor, which retained the cramped quarters of the original. The crew traveled from the Queensland coast of Australia along the South China Sea, finishing in Bali. Lamb climbed masts, tied gaskets, slept in hammocks below deck, and ate native fruits and berries found along the coastlines.
The eight-part television series chronicling the Endeavor’s journey, entitled The Ship, will air in the U.S. on the History Channel later this year.
Lamb is teaching two classes this spring, one of which is called Metamorphing:
Animals, Humans and the Posthuman. Lamb’s students will examine the
boundaries of what it is to be human and look at how authors, philosophers,
and others have viewed the extension of consciousness from humans to animals
and machines. 
By A.D.
Rockefeller, Forbes, Wilson, now Whitman
Meg Whitman ’77’s gift puts her in a league of her own
Meg Whitman ’77’s gift of $30 million for the construction of the new residential college brought smiles to the faces of university administrators as well as those who follow women’s philanthropy.
The gift from the president and chief executive officer of online giant eBay, Inc. is being viewed not only as wonderful for the university but also as a sign of things to come as women begin breaking through to top positions within corporations.
The new college will be named Whitman College, and it will be the only one to bear the name of an alumna.
“This is the beginning of something new,” said Kathleen McCarthy, director of the Center for the Study of Philanthropy at the City University of New York’s Graduate School.
Whitman’s gift, which came from her and her family, including her husband, Dr. Griffith R. Harsh IV, allows the university to move ahead with plans to build a sixth residential college to accommodate the 10-percent expansion of the student body.
“I had a great time as a Princeton undergraduate,” said Whitman in a statement. “The university inspired me to think in ways that have guided me throughout my life. I’m pleased that I can help bring Princeton to more students and that my gift will benefit the university for generations to come.”
Whitman’s statement illustrates what Sarah Spradlin, president and CEO of the Women’s Philanthropy Institute in Michigan, said research has shown that “women have a unique approach to philanthropy.
“Women want their philanthropy to create solutions, effect change, help them connect with others, provide opportunities for collaboration, demonstrate commitment, and celebrate accomplishments,” said Spradlin.
Whitman has been active in Princeton’s Women in Leadership Initiative, an effort launched in 1998 – on the 25th anniversary of Princeton’s first fully coeducational class – to encourage alumnae to participate as philanthropists and volunteers.
Whitman earned her bachelor’s degree in economics at Princeton and received an M.B.A. from Harvard. The former lacrosse and squash player has served as a trustee since 2000 and is a member of the board’s executive committee. She has a history of generous donations to the university and has supported various teaching and athletics initiatives.
Since February 1998, Whitman has successfully guided the expansion of eBay from a small U.S.-focused Internet trading site to a global marketplace with 42 million registered users and more than $9 billion in gross merchandise sales.
Whitman College will be constructed south of Dillon Gymnasium. It is
expected to provide dormitory, dining, social, cultural, educational,
and recreational space for approximately 500 students from all four undergraduate
classes, along with a number of graduate students.
By A.D.
African-American
studies grows
Photo of Nell Painter by Ron Carter
As the dust settles around the seismic movements – actual and rumored – of some of the country’s top African-American studies professors, Princeton appears to have positioned itself to enhance a program area that already features Nobel laureate Toni Morrison and other scholars, who include Colin Palmer, Valerie Smith, and Nell Painter.
Princeton’s hiring of Harvard philosophy professor K. Anthony Appiah in February and the rumors swirling around the possibility of professors Cornel West *80 and Henry Louis Gates, Jr., following him from Cambridge have put African-American studies on the front page of newspapers and on national newscasts.
The news coverage, similar to the attention paid to the arrival of Gates, West, and other members of the “Dream Team” at Harvard in the mid-1990s, has also put a spotlight on the bidding wars that reportedly go on to attract leaders in the African-American studies field.
But according to Appiah, there was not much of a battle to get him to make the move, even though he loved his job at Harvard. He has cited Princeton’s proximity to the New York City home he shares with his partner as a major reason for his decision. “I would have been inclined to want to come (to Princeton) if an offer had come earlier,” said Appiah, whose appointment begins September 1.
The New York Times reported that Provost Amy Gutmann, who coauthored a book with Appiah, “lured” him to Princeton. But Appiah, who described the news coverage as “annoying,” said, “She didn’t have to work very hard.”
Dr. Gloria Dickinson, president of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History and chair of the African-American Studies Department at the College of New Jersey, said the mainstream media continue to put African-American studies professors into a different category, leading to the comparatively greater coverage in the media of the normal university practice of faculty recruitment.
“These are getting more publicity because the faculty are in ‘Black
Studies’ and that seems to surprise, amaze, befuddle, or confuse
the mainstream media and/or society,” Dickinson said. “They
still don’t seem to be able to intellectually position black scholars
who study black topics alongside their majority colleagues.”
By A.D.
Bicker and sign-ins took place the first week of the spring semester, and the eating clubs saw a slight decrease in membership over last year.
Of the 11 clubs, six use the sign-in process, and this year, 315 sophomores participated in the first round, with Charter and Terrace drawing the largest numbers, 94 and 87, respectively. Of the five bicker clubs, Cottage and Cap & Gown attracted the most bickerees — 168 and 158, respectively — but only 102 were accepted at Cottage and 84 at Cap & Gown. At Ivy, 59 of 110 people gained membership. Tiger Inn accepted 65 of 95, while Tower added 94 new members of 157. On the day of the membership announcements, old members sang in the new and showered them with champagne and congratulations.
A second round of sign-ins took place after the bicker clubs had accepted their new members. Of the 284 students who did not gain membership to the bicker club of their choice, 127 signed into other clubs during the second round.
Of the approximately 1,160 members of the Class of 2004, 846 students
joined either a bicker or sign-in club. Last year 970 students joined
eating clubs.
A $40-million renovation and construction project that involves East Pyne, Chancellor Green, the Joseph Henry House, and a new building will form a complex that will be the home of the new Andlinger Center for the Humanities.
Once completed, the center – named for Gerhard Andlinger ’52, who donated $25 million to the university in 2000 – will better serve faculty and students by integrating several departments, said Alexander Nehamas, the Edmund Carpenter II Class of 1943 Professor in the Humanities and the chair of the Council of the Humanities.
“The center will give a more visible profile to the humanities as a unit in the university by bringing together a number of departments,” said Nehamas. Those include the classics department and the language departments as well as the Council of the Humanities, which was created in 1953 to foster teaching, research, and intellectual exchange and is currently located in the Joseph Henry House, once the home of the great physicist. The Society of Fellows in the Liberal Arts falls under its auspices.
The plans also call for improved teaching and support facilities, including
a new language lab in East Pyne and a general periodicals room and café
in Chancellor Green. The new building, to be 10,000 square feet, will
be constructed on a plot of land directly north of Chancellor Green and
between the Joseph Henry House and Firestone Library. The completion date
of that building will be set after the review of the plans by Princeton
Borough officials takes place in the spring.
By A.D.
James E. Crawford III ’68 has been named the national chair of Annual Giving. Crawford, a managing partner at Frontenac Company, a Chicago-based private equity investment firm, is a longtime volunteer for Princeton. He will lead the 40-member committee of senior volunteers that provides overall planning and direction for each year’s fundraising campaign.
Quorum sensing, the ability of certain bacteria to perform functions only when they are part of a sufficiently dense population, which is the thrust of molecular biology professor Bonnie Bassler’s research (cover story, PAW, February 23, 2000), has been further illuminated by the identification of a particular molecule that bacteria use to communicate with each other. The discovery, made by a team of researchers led by molecular biology professor Fred Hughson, may eventually lead to drugs capable of disabling germs without triggering antibiotic resistance.
Visiting lecturer Andrew Moore ’79’s documentary How To Draw a Bunny, about artist Ray Johnson, was recognized at the Sundance Film Festival in January with a special jury prize.
A memorial book containing the names of 355 Princetonians who gave their
lives in World War II is on display in the Frist Campus Center. The book
was first displayed in Nassau Hall’s Memorial Hall during George
Washington’s birthday exercises on February 22, 1946. Each page of
the book contains the name, branch of service, and place and date of death
of each Princetonian to die in World War II, as well as the Princeton
shield and the same Latin inscription used in the World War I memorial
panels in Nassau Hall. Translated, it reads, “Alma mater keeps in
eternal memory her sons who laid down their lives for their country.”
The exhibit will be on display at Frist for nearly a year. One page of
the book will be turned each day to honor and commemorate all who served
in the conflict.
