Newsmakers

NARAYANA KOCHERLAKOTA ’83, an economics professor at the University of Minnesota, was named president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis Sept. 30. Kocherlakota’s academic research has offered theoretical insights on topics ranging from asset pricing to optimal taxation. Nobel laureate Robert Lucas, a consultant to the Minneapolis Fed, told The Wall Street Journal that Kocherlakota is “probably the most abstract thinker ever to head a Federal Reserve bank,” adding that his approach could be useful at a time when many are questioning the conventional wisdom about financial markets.

Longtime producer ROGER S. BERLIND ’52, famous for staging Broadway shows including Proof, Anna in the Tropics, and Kiss Me, Kate, has been selected for induction in the Theater Hall of Fame. He is one of eight inductees in a group that includes actress Lynn Redgrave and composer Andrew Lloyd Webber. The new Hall of Fame class will be honored Jan. 25, 2010, at the Gershwin Theatre in New York.  

Head coach BOB BRADLEY ’80 and the U.S. men’s national soccer team clinched a spot in the 2010 World Cup with a 3­–2 win over Honduras Oct. 10. Bradley, the national-team coach since December 2006, led the Americans to a 6–1–2 record in their first nine World Cup qualifying matches. Before joining the national team, Bradley coached Princeton from 1984 to 1995, reaching the NCAA Final Four in 1993. He also led the Chicago Fire to the Major League Soccer championship in 1998.

LOCOMOTIVES   The U.S. Senate confirmed PAUL J. FISHMAN ’78 as the U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Oct. 7. Fishman, a former federal prosecutor, was a senior aide to U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno from 1994 to 1997. ... President Obama last month nominated DAVID HUEBNER ’82, the general counsel for the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, as ambassador to New Zealand and Samoa. If confirmed, Huebner would be be the first openly gay ambassador in the administration. ... AZER YALIN *00, an associate professor at Colorado State Univer­sity, received the Society of Auto­mobile Engineers International’s Ralph R. Teetor Award for his teaching and research in aerospace engineering. ... The financial-management software company Intuit purchased Mint.com, a personal finance site founded by AARON PATZER *04, for $170 million in September. Patzer, Mint’s CEO, will become general manager of Intuit’s personal finance group. ... JENNIFER LEWELLEN WEIDMAN ’05 was one of 35 students and beginning teachers around the county to receive a fellowship from the Knowles Science Teaching Foundation. The award, intended to improve science and math instruction, is valued at up to $150,000 and provides professional-development and financial support.