J. Paul Barringer ’24

The Class of '24 and the Princeton community lost a strong advocate on Aug., 15, 1996, when Paul Barringer died at home in Princeton of congestive heart failure. He was 93.

Born in Stafford, Pa., Paul attended Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire (where he played baseball) before enrolling in Princeton, as did his five brothers. He was a member of the freshman and 150-lb. crew team. After graduation, he worked in commercial and investment banking at Brown Bros. and Harriman and at the Guaranty Trust Co. of NYC.

In 1942 he joined the Army Air Force and served in Burma and India, rising to the rank of colonel. He earned the Legion of Merit and the Bronze Star. He joined the State Dept. in 1946, working in the office of transport and communications policy. He later served in the foreign service as counselor of the U.S. embassies in Haiti and Libya.

After retiring from the State Dept. in 1965, he organized Educational Career Services, which placed private school headmasters and college presidents. He also was president and CEO of the Barringer Crater Co., which owns a crater in northern Arizona. He promoted the science of meteoritics and went on expeditions with his wife to Mauritania and Hudson Bay with the noted geologist Dr. Robert Dietz in search of other meteorite craters.

The Class of 1924