Aug. 27, 2019: Burr *88 Researches Ancestry; Newsome ’92 Begins New Secret Service Role

While researching her family history, Sherri Burr *88, a law professor at the University of New Mexico, discovered that one of her African American ancestors, John Pierre Burr, likely was the son of Aaron Burr Jr. 1772, the former vice president who famously shot and killed Alexander Hamilton. — The Washington Post

Phillip Swagel ’87, director of the Congressional Budget Office, spoke about the federal government’s “unsustainable” deficit spending, which is projected to reach $1 trillion in the coming fiscal year. — NPR

New York City medical examiner Barbara Sampson ’88 ruled out foul play in the death of Jeffrey Epstein, a financier awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges, after an autopsy confirmed that he committed suicide. — The New York Times 

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Leon Newsome III ’92

U.S. Secret Service

The U.S. Secret Service named Leonza “Leon” Newsome III ’92, a 26-year veteran of the agency, as its new deputy director. — SecretService.gov 

Sarah Valentine *07, who first learned of her biracial heritage when she was a graduate student at Princeton, explores racial identity in a new memoir, When I Was White. — NPR

In a column drawn from her Princeton Alumni Day speech, Davidson College president Carol Quillen *91 argued that learning to listen to one another develops “our capacities for citizenship in a democratic, free, and pluralistic society.” — Detroit Free Press

Boston’s NPR station discussed the representation of Asians and Asian-Americans in Hollywood with a panel of experts including Jenny Korn ’96, a fellow at Harvard University. — WGBH News

Psychologist and author Erica Reischer ’92 shared advice on how parents can deal with disrespectful children and repair relationships through better communication. — Fatherly

John Page Williams ’65 is retiring after more than four and a half decades as a naturalist and educator at the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. — Bay Journal
 

“My flutter of fear caused by Morrison’s daunting, leonine presence, at the beginning of the semester, quickly settled into cheerful enthusiasm. I remember the firm calm of her velvet voice inspiring more ease than awe.”  

— Troy Patterson ’96 of The New Yorker, recalling a Princeton course taught by Toni Morrison in the fall of 1993. Patterson writes that Morrison left an indelible impression as an analyst of other great writers. Read more in The New Yorker.

Ariel Investments co-CEO Mellody Hobson ’91 and her husband, filmmaker George Lucas, are among the 2019 recipients of the Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy. — Forbes

Beginning in December, the northern Maui house and garden of the late poet W.S. Merwin ’48 will be run by the Merwin Conservancy, an arts and ecology nonprofit started by Merwin and his wife, Paula. — Poets & Writers

Jennifer Tour Chayes *83, a technical fellow and managing director at Microsoft Research, will become an associate provost at the University of California, Berkeley. — Berkeley News

Playing in a qualifier at his former home club in Glens Falls, N.Y., golfer Brent Herlihy ’07 carded a 1-under-par 70 to earn a spot in the U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship next month. —Albany Times Union

Lawrence, N.J., police hailed the heroic actions of Darren Geist ’05, who rescued a man trapped in his car and partially submerged in the waters of the Delaware and Raritan Canal. — CommunityNews.org