Sept. 18, 2018: New Bezos Philanthropy Launches With $2 Billion Pledge; Ambassador Lu ’88 *91 Confirmed

Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos ’86, pictured last week at the Economic Club of Washington, D.C., and his wife, MacKenzie Bezos ’92, have pledged $2 billion for a new fund to start preschools and help homeless families. Read more about the venture inThe New York Times.

Washington Post columnist Christine Emba ’10 returned to Princeton orientation to see what freshmen are learning about sexual assault and consent. — The Washington Post

Jason Wood ’93 is part of a “handful of upstart advisers” who are using their expertise in investment banking to advise large companies on securities offerings, a lucrative job normally handled by investment banks. — The Wall Street Journal
 
Nicholas Wu ’18, a policy fellow at National Journal, explores why fewer recent college graduates are joining the government and highlights examples of agencies that have attracted millennials, such as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. — Government Executive

The U.S. Senate confirmed Donald Lu ’88 *91 as the new ambassador to the Kyrgyz Republic. Since 2014, Lu has served as ambassador to Albania. — Kabar
 

“I never use the word ‘fearless.’ We don’t want our girls to be fearless. Being afraid is a natural human reaction, and trying to minimize it creates unrealistic expectations.”

— Crista Samaras ’99, former lacrosse star for Princeton and the U.S. national team, in an interview with Samantha Walravens ’90 about “Raising Our Daughters to be Brave.” Read more at Forbes.com.

President Donald Trump nominated Timothy Reif ’80 *85 to be a judge on the U.S. Court of International Trade. — The White House
 
Dan Berkovitz ’78 was sworn in as a commissioner for the Commodity Futures and Trading Commission. — U.S. CFTC
 
Princeton Professor Tullis Onstott *81 is co-author of a study that found that fossilized dinosaur bones can host microbes, which thrive on the water and minerals in the fossils. — The Atlantic
 
University of Chicago Professor Daniel Holz ’92 led a team of researchers who determined that last year’s discovery of gravitational waves won’t add extra spatial dimensions to the universe. — UChicago News
 
Justin Reed ’05, the investment officer of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, discusses the most rewarding aspects of his job and his worry about the short-term focus in some sectors of the investing world. — Chief Investment Officer
 
Ritabrata Munshi *06, a professor at the Indian Statistical Institute, received the 2018 Ramanujan Prize for Young Mathematicians from Developing Countries, awarded by the International Center for Theoretical Physics, for his work in number theory. — Asian Scientist
 
Erin Reelick ’16 won gold as a member of the U.S. women’s four at the World Rowing Championships in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. — Team USA
 
Keith Tan ’97, a former deputy secretary at Singapore’s Ministry of Defense, was named chief executive of the country’s tourism board. — The Business Times
 
After learning she had more than $2 million in a trust fund, Kate Poole ’09 co-founded Regenerative Finance to teach wealthy millennials about values-based investing. — Money
 
Surgical oncologist Monica Bertagnolli ’81 was named president of the American Society of Clinical Oncology. — Medpage Today
 
Lawyer Brad Wyche ’72 discusses the impact his nonprofit Upstate Forever, a conservation organization, has had on preserving the environment in the Greenville region of South Carolina. — Upstate Business Journal
 
After seeing the damage caused by Hurricane Sandy, PSEG engineer Benjamin Tai ’11 developed a computer model that can predict which pieces of the power company’s equipment are likely to fail. — TAP Into Newark
 
Physicist Richard Feynman *42’s Nobel Prize, personal research library, and papers will headline the annual History of Science and Technology Auction at Sotheby’s in November. Feynman died in 1988. — Fine Books Magazine