Princeton Environmental Institute Renamed After Major Gift

The Princeton Environmental Institute has been renamed the High Meadows Environmental Institute in recognition of a major gift from the High Meadows Foundation, a philanthropic organization co-founded by JUDY AND CARL FERENBACH III ’64, the University announced Oct. 29. 

Carl Ferenbach, co-founder of the private-equity firm Berkshire Partners and the chairman of the Environmental Defense Fund board, is a longtime advocate for environmental research. Previous High Meadows gifts to Princeton have supported the University’s Grand Challenges program, undergraduate fellowships, teaching and research, and sustainability investments. 

“It is our hope that this gift inspires generations of students to engage in environmental stewardship because we’ve reached a moment where it will play a crucial role in every social, economic, and political issue,” Ferenbach said in a news release.

The University did not release the amount of the gift but said it would “ensure that environmental research at Princeton will be supported into the next half-century and beyond.” The Environmental Institute, based in Guyot Hall, celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2019 and is slated to move to a new environmental-studies building on Ivy Lane.