Thomas E. Wing ’60

At high school in Port Washington, Long Island, Tom played varsity football, joined the chess club, and sailed on the Sound. He brought the latter two enthusiasms to Princeton, where he majored in engineering physics, joined Navy ROTC and Key and Seal, and played bridge.

After graduation, Tom took to the sea again, this time spending three years, mostly in the Mediterranean, on a Navy aircraft carrier. He earned a Ph.D. in physics at Columbia University and met and married Peggy Lester, daughter of Dean Richard Lester of Princeton. He began his professional career with Bell Laboratories, then preeminent in engineering physics. Tom spent his entire career with the company as it evolved gradually into Lucent Technologies with the breakup of the Bell System, a process he regretted.

Tom retired from Lucent in 2001. He remained active in the Episcopal Church and continued to enjoy chess, bridge, and especially his lifelong enthusiasm for sailing. He and Peggy had earlier adopted Waquoit Village on Cape Cod as their summer home and sailing port and enjoyed those pursuits, their two children, five grandchildren, and families there and in Mendham, N.J.

Tom died Feb. 19, 2025. The class sends its condolences to all the family.