BEN BERNANKE, chairman of the Federal Reserve and former chairman of Princeton’s economics department, has been selected as the speaker for this year’s Baccalaureate ceremony. Recommended by the senior-class officers, Bernanke will address the graduating class June 2 in the University Chapel.
ANNE TREISMAN, professor of psychology emeritus, received the National Medal of Science, the nation’s highest scientific honor, at a White House ceremony Feb. 1. She was honored for “a 50-year career of penetrating originality and depth” in researching how brains build meaningful images from a sea of visual information.
A new CENTER FOR IRAN AND PERSIAN GULF STUDIES at Princeton will be named for Bijan Mossavar-Rahmani ’74 and his wife, Sharmin Mossavar-Rahmani ’80, whose $10 million gift established the center. It will study key issues that affect the region, such as oil and energy markets, trade and global finance, and regional and international security. Sharmin Mossavar-Rahmani is chief investment officer of the Private Wealth Management Group at Goldman Sachs. Bijan Mossavar-Rahmani is chairman and CEO of RAK Petroleum in the United Arab Emirates and executive chairman of Norway’s DNO International. The couple live in New York City.
The Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory is working with South Korean researchers on preliminary design work for a demonstration FUSION-POWER PROJECT to be built in South Korea. The proposed device, called K-DEMO, could be completed in the 2030s as the final step before construction of a commercial fusion-power plant. The six-month collaboration could be extended, the lab said.
The University is expanding the OFFICE OF CAREER SERVICES, which has six career counselors, or one per 1,250 students. Two new counselors were hired in the last year, and an additional position — executive director — will be filled in the coming year. The office received a $1 million contribution from a donor who has not been identified. The services of the office also are available to alumni.
AMAN SINHA ’13, a senior in the mechanical and aerospace engineering department, has been named one of 14 U.S. Churchill Scholars. Sinha will spend a year studying at Churchill College at Cambridge University. His research interests include fluid mechanics, complex systems, and scientific computation.