June 13, 2017: Ambar *94 Named President of Oberlin; Paris ’71 on Youth and Police; Blain-Cruz ’06’s Theater Award; and More

Oberlin College named Carmen Twillie Ambar *94, a former Woodrow Wilson School assistant dean, as its 15th president. She will be the college’s first African-American president. — Cleveland Plain Dealer
 
Melanie Kirkpatrick ’73 interviews Jay Paris ’71, the founder of the Youth and Police Initiative, on his efforts to bring together young people and police officers in 25 American cities. — The Wall Street Journal
 
Director Lileana Blain-Cruz ’06 won an Obie Award, the off-Broadway equivalent of a Tony, for her production of Suzan-Lori Parks’ The Death of the Last Black Man in the Whole Entire World. — Hartford Courant

Subhash Khot *03, a professor of mathematics at New York University, was elected to the Royal Society of Fellows for his “breakthroughs in algorithmic design and approximation hardness.” — India West
 
Allegra Lovejoy ’14 describes her experience managing Capital City Farms in Trenton, N.J., and credits the Woodrow Wilson School for giving her the idea to combine her interests in the environment and economics. — Mercerspace
 
First Amendment lawyer Ron Coleman ’85, who is defending a band called “The Slants” in the Supreme Court case Lee v. Tam, explains his opposition to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s practice of rejecting trademarks that it deems offensive. — KTEP
 
Justin Mikolay *03, the director of strategic communications for Secretary of Defense James Mattis, is one of three Pentagon officials close to Mattis who was previously associated with Peter Thiel’s Palantir Technologies. Mikolay is a past president of the Association of Princeton Graduate Alumni. — Politico
 
Former Congressman Jim Leach ’64 explains that public discourse has “hardened” as the “edges of the parties” have become the dominant voices among Democrats and Republicans.  — The Gazette (Cedar Rapids, Iowa)
 
Columbia Law School professor Philip Hamburger ’79 argues that federal administrative agencies violate the Constitution when they write and enforce laws, since this authority should lie with Congress. — The Wall Street Journal
  
David Urban *09 reflects on his experience at the 1993 Scripps National Spelling Bee, where as a 7th grader, he placed second in a field of 234 spellers. — Amarillo Globe-News
 
Art Levine ’60 is celebrating his 25th anniversary as the host of Straight Talk, a California cable show on which he has interviewed entertainers, politicians, and more. — Long Beach Press Telegram
 
University of Mississippi law professor and associate dean Jack Nowlin *99 has been named the dean of Texas Tech Law School in Lubbock. — Lubbock Avalanche-Journal
 
Jason Aramburu ’07 created the Edyn garden monitor and smart-watering system after working in East Africa for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. His devices have been installed at Google’s headquarters in California. — Inventors Digest 
 
Two Sigma co-founder David Siegel ’83 was elected to the MIT Board of Trustees as a partial-term member. — MIT News
 
Former Georgetown University men’s basketball coach John Thompson III ’88 is exploring a new career in sports broadcasting, following in the footsteps of his father, John Thompson Jr. — The Washington Post

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