Tiger of the Week: Anne Case 83 88

Published in the June 1, 2011, Issue

For Commencement week, the campus was filled with Tiger of the Week candidates: Brooke Shields ’87, who delivered the Class Day speech, is a few weeks away from a new role on Broadway as Morticia Addams; Robert Rawson Jr. ’66, a longtime University trustee, received an honorary degree for his service and stewardship; Ed Zschau ’61, the lecturer who created Princeton’s well-known course in high-tech entrepreneurship, was selected as an honorary classmate by the 2011 graduates; Kathleen Chesmel ’85, a science teacher at New Egypt (N.J.) High School was one of four New Jersey secondary school teachers honored by Princeton; and two new alumni, Amanda Van Duynhoven ’11 and Nathan Plough ’11, received commissions into the Army.

Anne Case *83 *88 (Denise Applewhite/Office of Communications)

But our top honor goes to an alumna making her mark in Princeton’s classrooms: Anne Case *83 *88, the Alexander Stewart Professor of Economics and Public Affairs, was one of four faculty to receive the President’s Award for Distinguished Teaching May 31. Case's innovative research earned her election as a fellow in the Econometric Society; according to students, her teaching is equally impressive. From the award citation:

“Her students say, ‘When I grow up I want to be Anne Case.’ Since imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, we know these statements testify to her prowess as a teacher. … She teaches students how to do rigorous scientific research that requires firm theoretical grounding, but that also has the capacity, if done well, to make the world a better place.”

President Tilghman, center, with faculty members recognized with the 2011 President's Awards for Distinguished Teaching: from left, Daniel Oppenheimer, Alexander Nehamas, Hendrik Hartog, and Case. (Denise Applewhite/Office of Communications)

Case, who holds a master’s in public affairs from the Woodrow Wilson School and a Ph.D. from the economics department, joined the Princeton faculty in 1990.

This year’s other distinguished teaching honorees were Hendrik Hartog, the Class of 1921 Bicentennial Professor in the History of American Law and Liberty; Alexander Nehamas, the Edmund N. Carpenter II Class of 1943 Professor in the Humanities and professor of philosophy and comparative literature; and Daniel Oppenheimer, associate professor of psychology and public affairs.

Do you have a nominee for Tiger of the Week? Let us know. All alumni qualify. PAW’s Tiger of the Week is selected by our staff, with help from readers like you.