Howard Carl Hartman ’36

Body

Carl died Feb. 5, 2012, in Washington, D.C., one month after his 95th birthday. He was born in Morristown,  N.J., and prepared at Townsend Harris High School.

Carl transferred to Princeton at the beginning of his sophomore year and majored in English. He was a University Scholarship holder and a member of the honor roll. According to a 2005 PAW interview, his career aspirations were sparked by a classmate in a Princeton English course. In class, “Students were asked what they were going to do after graduation. I didn’t say anything,” he recalled. “But a bright fellow said he was going into journalism. It got a tremendous laugh. Back then, journalism was clearly considered a second-tier career.”

Carl went on to become the longest-tenured reporter at the Associated Press, leading AP bureaus in several European cities in the 1950s and ’60s and covering the World Bank and International Monetary Fund later in his career. He continued writing book reviews even after he officially retired in 2006.

Carl was predeceased by his wife, Martha Hartman. He is survived by one daughter, Jessica Constantino, and at least one grandchild.

See the 1936 Class Notes for more about Carl’s remarkable career.

No responses yet

Join the conversation

Plain text

Full name and Princeton affiliation (if applicable) are required for all published comments. For more information, view our commenting policy. Responses are limited to 500 words for online and 250 words for print consideration.

Paw in print

Image
The cover of PAW’s November 2025 issue, featuring a photo of a space probe and the headline "Made in Princeton."
The Latest Issue

November 2025

NASA’s new IMAP mission, London’s big data detective, AI challenges in the classroom.