The Stars Align at Many Minds, Many Stripes

Princeton designates its graduate classes with stars—as in *25, for example—so you might say that the stars aligned at the 2025 Many Minds, Many Stripes conference celebrating our graduate alumni.  

The October conference coincided with this year’s Nobel Prize announcements, often an exciting time on the Princeton campus. When Princeton graduate alumna Mary Brunkow *91 received the 2025 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, I knew we were in for a spectacular celebration. 

Brunkow, whose Princeton Ph.D. is in molecular biology, was recognized for “groundbreaking discoveries concerning peripheral immune tolerance that prevents the immune system from harming the body.” She was our eighteenth graduate alum to receive a Nobel Prize.

Her dazzling achievement launched the Many Minds, Many Stripes conference with a burst of enthusiastic pride as alumni returned and reconnected.

Over 900 graduate alumni and guests attended the three-day conference, representing eight decades of Princetonians. For about half of the alumni, it was their first time attending an alumni conference hosted by the University, and for some it was their first time returning to campus since graduating.

Throughout the conference, I spoke with graduate alumni who were struck by the transformation of our physical campus and the improvements in the graduate student experience.

As in the past, Princeton’s outstanding academic programs remain the core of graduate education. Stipend increases, including dramatic improvements in 2001 and again in 2022, have given graduate students more freedom not only to pursue and complete their degrees, but also to embrace more of what our institution has to offer. 

Beyond increased financial support, the University and Graduate School have for the past 15 years been intentionally cultivating opportunities for our graduate student body to engage more fully in campus life.  

Among their many extracurricular engagements, graduate students now sing in some of Princeton’s a cappella groups and participate in student performing arts and dance organizations. They compete in our campus intramural sports leagues and serve as fitness instructors in the new Class of 1986 Fitness & Wellness Center, the renovated Dillon Gymnasium, and the new Wilkinson Fitness Center on the Meadows Campus. 

Perhaps most strikingly, graduate students today have a variety of campus housing options, including the new Meadows housing development south of Lake Carnegie. Together these communities allow over 70% of graduate students to live on campus and enjoy a wide range of amenities during their first five years at Princeton.

Students can choose a home that suits their stage of life, including townhouses and apartments that support growing families. These neighborhoods help to integrate graduate students into University life and enhance their student experience. 

I spent an evening with some of our first-year graduate students later in the fall when Dean of the Graduate School Rod Priestley hosted a meet-and-greet at his home near the Graduate College. Dean Priestley asked the students to describe what had impressed them in their first few weeks at Princeton. They spoke about mentorship they had received, interdisciplinary collaborations they cherished, and a community that embraced them warmly.

I left the conference and the meet-and-greet grateful for the efforts of our deans, faculty, and staff to attract top scholars to the Graduate School and inspired by the ways our students have participated energetically in campus life and made Princeton their own.

As we commemorate the 125th anniversary of the Princeton Graduate School, I want to thank the graduate alumni—the School’s stars—for being such effective ambassadors for Princeton. They are fulfilling Princeton’s mission of service to humanity in academia, industry, and nonprofit institutions, and through public service. On campus and in our regional alumni associations, they give back to Princeton by sharing their expertise on advisory councils, serving on committees and working groups, and contributing to our  Annual Giving campaigns.

I look forward to sporting my new Association of Princeton Graduate Alumni (APGA) jacket at Reunions this May, and I hope to see many of our graduate alumni in orange and black as we celebrate 125 years of excellence.