In Short

A $10 million gift from LOUIS SIMPSON *60 has created the Louis A. Simpson Center for the Study of Macroeconomics within the economics department. The center will support research into the behavior and structure of regional, national, and global economies. 

Professor Richard Rogerson will serve as director. Former Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke, who also chaired Princeton’s economics department, is scheduled to speak at the dedication in October. 

Simpson, the chair of Naples, Fla.-based SQ Advisors LLC, is a former president and CEO for capital operations of Geico Corp.

Professor DAVID TANK, the co-director of the Princeton Neuroscience Institute, is one of four winners of the Brain Prize for outstanding contributions to brain research. Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark will present the award May 7 in Copenhagen; the four recipients will share 1 million euros. The researchers were selected for their work on two-photon microscopy in examining the function of individual nerve cells.

Fred R. Conrad/The New York Times/Redux

MICHAEL GRAVES, who brought his playful style both to world-class buildings and mass-market household goods, died March 12. He was 80.

Graves, the Robert Schirmer Professor of Architecture, emeritus, joined Princeton’s faculty in 1962 and retired in 2001. Graves was known for important postmodern buildings such as the Portland, Ore., municipal building and the headquarters of the Humana health-care company in Kentucky. He then designed stylish utilitarian items, like the iconic stainless steel Alessi teakettle, for ordinary consumers. After a virus left him paralyzed in 2003, Graves focused on designing hospitals and rehab centers, believing that well-designed spaces could encourage better healing.