Richard Popiel ’71

Rich died May 13, 2010. 

Rich came to Princeton from Plymouth-Whitemarsh High School in the northwest suburbs of Philadelphia. At Princeton he majored in Near East Studies, was selected for the University Scholar Program, graduated with highest honors, and was elected Phi Beta Kappa. He also participated in Movement for a New Congress, Orange Key, IAA athletics, the Bric-A-Brac, and the St. Thomas Aquinas Institute. Senior year Rich lived at Cloister Inn with fellow club officers Joe Mezzanotte, Peter Klacsmann, and Kim T. MacDermotRoe. He was remembered for his academic brilliance, popularity and having fun, including break-dancing.  

As a JD/MA student in Yale’s International Relations Program, he taught English at the American Community School in Tehran, Iran, after graduation. Rich graduated from Yale Law School in 1977. His professional career built on his Near East expertise and included working at law firms in several locations: Vinson and Elkins in Houston Texas (1981); Gibson, Dunn and Crutcher, New York City (1986); and Graham and James, Washington, D.C. (1996).  

An only child, Rich never married nor had children. To his friends and relatives, the class extends its belated condolences.