In Short

Daniel Kahneman, professor emeritus of psychology, is one of 16 recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor. Kahneman’s citation said that along with Amos Tversky, he “applied cognitive psychology to economic analysis, laying the foundation for a new field of research” and earning the Nobel Prize in economics in 2002. The award will be presented at the White House later this year.

Politics professor Robert P. George was elected chairman of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom in July. He was appointed to the commission last year by House Speaker John Boehner. George said the organization works to ensure that religious freedom “is given the high priority it deserves in the formation and execution of U.S. foreign policy.”

Genomics professor David Botstein will receive the 2013 Warren Alpert Foundation Prize Oct. 3 for a study he co-authored in 1980. The study provided a new framework for mapping the human genome and laid the foundation for mapping disease inheritance in humans.

Jeremiah Ostriker, professor emeritus of astrophysical sciences and a former Princeton provost, was among 13 people honored at the White House June 20 as a Champion of Change, which recognizes those who use open scientific data to promote scientific and social progress. Ostriker was cited for his research and influence in theoretical astronomy.

Princeton in Argentina became the University’s newest study-abroad program this summer. Part of a larger effort to expand offerings in Latin America, the program enrolled 18 students who took an intermediate or advanced Spanish course. Cultural experiences ranged from tango lessons to museum visits.

Thirty-three students were accepted from Princeton’s waitlist, and 25 are enrolling in the Class of 2017. The admission office aims to take some students from the waitlist each year, according to Dean Janet Rapelye, though none were admitted last year.

A fifth meningitis case linked to the University was reported this summer, when a student on an academic trip abroad received treatment in a hospital after a June 30 diagnosis. Four cases occurred between March and May. All five individuals have recovered.

Jonathan Levy

Photo: Beverly Schaefer

A book by assistant professor of history Jonathan Levy, Freaks of Fortune: The Emerging World of Capitalism and Risk in America, won three awards from the Organization of American Historians. The book explains how the modern concept of financial “risk” evolved from a niche term in marine insurance to an important part of the American financial system.   

A larger child-care center will be built near the site of the current center at 171 Broadmead. The new center is expected to open in about four years and will serve 150 to 180 children of faculty, staff, and graduate students. It will be designed by the Cambridge, Mass., architectural firm of Maryann Thompson ’83.