In Brief

As Members of Princeton’s RELIGIOUS LIFE COUNCIL, an undergraduate group committed to religious pluralism, met for an hour with the Dalai Lama (center) at his residence in Dharamsala, India, in July. From left are Nikhil Bumb ’08, Deepa Iyer ’09, associate dean of ­religious life Paul Raushenbush, Olaf Sakkers ’11, Manav Lalwani ’09, and ­Esther Breger ’10. The visit followed an eight-day trip to religious sites in India by 22 members of the council. Sakkers described the Dalai Lama as “acute in intellect and intensely present, never distracted, and yet filled with laughter.”

The University announced Sept. 2 that 145 staff members accepted VOLUNTARY RETIREMENT INCENTIVES, nearly a third of the 460 who were eligible. For many, Oct. 16 will be their last day of work; others may work as late as June 30, 2010. Employees who chose the incentive will receive a lump-sum payment of up to 12 months of salary, depending on length of service, and will receive payment for up to 30 unused vacation days. Voluntary retirement programs earlier this year at Harvard and Cornell attracted similar participation rates.

Princeton hopes to save $22 million in compensation costs as part of $170 million in budget reductions over two years. By the end of September, managers are expected to analyze the new vacancies and determine which positions can be left unfilled; the University projected that no more than 60 percent would be filled. An undetermined number of layoffs is expected to be ­announced by early November, officials have said.  

Peter Grant, professor emeritus of zoology, and Rosemary Grant, his wife and a retired senior research scholar, will receive the KYOTO PRIZE in November for “the most important contribution since Darwin toward making evolutionary biology a science in which proof is possible,” according to the ­Inamori Foundation. The couple’s research, dating back to 1973, has focused on a population of birds known as “Darwin’s finches” on the isolated Galápagos ­island of Daphne Major. The award ­includes a cash prize of about $500,000.

JOSH BOLTEN ’76, who served as head of the federal Office of Management and Budget and then as chief of staff to President George W. Bush, has joined the faculty of the Woodrow Wilson School as a visiting professor. Bolten will teach an undergraduate course on the federal budget during the fall term; in the spring he will teach two graduate seminars, likely in the areas of international trade and international financial regulation.