June 4, 2019: Boettcher ’14 Scores Big ‘Jeopardy!’ Win; Pioneering Surgeon Percec ’95

Emma Boettcher ’14, a librarian at the University of Chicago who wrote a research paper about Jeopardy! in grad school, defeated star contestant James Holzhauer, ending his 32-game winning streak. — The New York Times

Dr. Ivona Percec ’95, a plastic surgeon at the University of Pennsylvania, has pioneered new methods for reconstructive surgery to help women who were subjected to ritual genital cutting. — The New York Times
 
University of California, Berkeley, professor Emi Nakamura ’01 won the John Bates Clark medal, awarded to the leading American economist under age 40. — The Economist
 
Isabella de la Houssaye ’86, an accomplished athlete and adventurer who has Stage 4 lung cancer, recently climbed Aconcagua, the highest summit outside the Himalayas, with her daughter, Bella Crane. — The New York Times
 
Instead of synthesizing new biochemicals from scratch, Nobel Prize-winning chemist Frances Arnold ’79 lets evolutionary algorithms do the heavy lifting. — The New York Times
 
New Jersey Institute of Technology has renamed its College of Architecture and Design for architects J. Robert Hillier ’59 *61 and Barbara A. Hillier *11 in recognition of the couple’s recent gift, the largest in the university’s history. — NJIT News
 
After chairing New York State’s Republican Party for a decade, Ed Cox ’68 is leaving his post to join President Donald Trump’s 2020 re-election campaign. — New York Post
 
The University of Massachusetts, Amherst, appointed Barbara Krauthamer *00 as senior vice provost for interdisciplinary programs and innovation. — Diverse: Issues in Higher Education
 
Nathan Brostrom *89, the University of California system’s executive vice president and chief financial officer, was appointed interim chancellor of the University of California, Merced. — UC Merced Newsroom