Names in the News: Allen ’93 Nominated for PEN Award; Scheide ’36, McPhee ’53 on N.J. Hall of Fame Ballot; More

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Our Declaration: A Reading of the Declaration of Independence in Defense of Equality, by DANIELLE ALLEN ’93, has been named a finalist for the PEN/John Kenneth Galbraith Award for Nonfiction. Our Declaration is a line-by-line commentary on the Declaration of Independence and an analysis of its contents. The ultimate winner of the award, which is available for nonfiction books of “notable literary merit and critical perspective” published in 2013 or 2014, will receive a prize of $10,000. In a podcast for the scientific journal Nature, astrophysics professor NETA BAHCALL speaks to Kerri Smith about having her and her husband John Bahcall’s wedding rings travel to the Hubble Space Telescope. John Bahcall, who played a major role in the launch and maintenance of the Hubble, died in 2005. In 2009, astronaut John Grunsfeld traveled to Hubble for its final servicing mission, and he brought with him the couple’s rings as a way of honoring John Bahcall’s important contributions to the Hubble project. Philanthropist, musicologist, and supporter of the arts WILLIAM SCHEIDE ’36 has been nominated to the N.J. Hall of Fame in the Arts & Letters category. Scheide died in November at the age of 100. Other nominees in the category include journalism professor JOHN MCPHEE ’53 and the late writer and literary critic EDMUND WILSON 1916. Architect BRYONY ROBERTS *11 and graduate students JOHN LANSDOWNE (art and archaeology), KATHARINE HUEMOELLER (classics), and MALI SKOTHEIM (classics) are among the 31 recipients of the 2015 Rome Prize. The prize, awarded by the American Academy in Rome, supports one year of advanced independent work in the arts and humanities. NATHAN MYHRVOLD *83 will be speaking at UCLA commencement in June. Myhrvold is the former chief technology officer of Microsoft Corporation and is most recently the founder of “invention capital company” Intellectual Ventures.