Jane Marie Zarouni ’85

Published in the May 2023 Issue

Jane died Aug. 25, 2021. She is remembered as a remarkable intellect and a deeply engaged member of the community.

Jane came to Princeton from Middletown, N.J., where she was a field hockey star, inducted into the Middletown High School South Eagles Hall of Fame in 2009. Jane managed finances for The Daily Princetonian and The Princeton Engineer, socialized at Quad, was a tutor, and volunteered at the Medical Center. She majored in computer science, graduating summa cum laude,and was elected to Tau Beta Pi, the engineering honor society.

After earning a Ph.D. in electrical engineering from MIT, where she was later made a fellow of IEEE, Jane focused on the architectural aspects of Optical Regional Access Networks (ORAN) at Bell Labs/AT&T Labs Research. She went on to play key roles as executive engineer and chief network architect at the Corvis Corp., where she developed all-optical networks that today are the industry standard.

In 2003, Jane founded Monarch Network Architects, providing optical network architectural services and tools for carriers, vendors, and public entities. She wrote Optical Network Design and Planning and served as the editor-in-chief of the Journal of Optical Communications and Networking, reprising her commitment to volunteerism.

“Throughout her career, her dedication to her work, her friends, and for making the world a better place had no limits,” colleagues wrote. “She advanced and nurtured the field as a visionary researcher, pragmatic practitioner, and inspiring teacher. She left a legacy that will not be forgotten.”