In Short

Xiyue Wang *15, the Princeton doctoral student who was imprisoned in Iran for more than three years, and his wife, Hua Qu *21, settled their civil lawsuit against Princeton University in late July, according to court documents. In the suit, filed in November 2021, Wang and Qu alleged negligence by the University, claiming that advisers encouraged Wang to travel to Iran, despite the country’s history of holding American citizens hostage, and failed to support him when he was arrested on espionage charges, convicted, and imprisoned. Wang eventually was freed in a prisoner exchange in December 2019.

Princeton disputed Wang and Qu’s allegations in a 2022 court filing, and later that year, the two sides held an in-person mediation session, followed by negotiations for a potential settlement that continued into 2023, court documents said. The plaintiffs and the University signed a stipulation of dismissal July 31. Details of the settlement were not included in court documents. A University spokesman declined to comment on the case, and the attorney for Wang and Qu did not respond to requests for comment.

Jay Dominick, Princeton’s vice president for information technology and chief information officer, is retiring at the end of the calendar year, according to a University announcement. As leader of the Office of Information Technology, Dominick oversees information technology infrastructure, information security, and administrative and academic computing operations. During his 11-year tenure, the University implemented an infrastructure overhaul to modernize the campus network and partnered with departments to launch resources such as Canvas.  

Shana Weber, the founding director of Princeton’s Office of Sustainability, has departed for the University of Michigan, where she will serve as associate vice president for campus sustainability. Weber led sustainability efforts on campus since 2006 and played a key role in the development of the University’s Sustainability Action Plan, published in 2019. Ijeoma Nwagwu was named interim director of the office.