In discussing the 25 most influential alums, PAW may be forgiven for failing to include the Class of ’76 as a class boasting two members on the list. No doubt it was inconceivable that one class would place two alums in the top 10 (Sonia Sotomayor at No. 3 and Eric Schmidt at No. 6), or that 10 members of the same class have served on Princeton’s Board of Trustees (two currently), or that one class provided a press secretary for President Bill Clinton (Mike McCurry) as well as a chief of staff for President George W. Bush (Josh Bolten).
Not current enough, you say? Well, McCurry is co-chair of the Commission on Presidential Debates, and Bolten is the president and CEO of the ultimate CEO association, the Business Roundtable.
With business, law, education, and politics covered, we turn to the arts, where Winnie Holzman’s writing has touched audiences of all ages via the timeless teenage TV drama My So-Called Life; two groundbreaking adult series, thirtysomething and Once and Again; and the second-largest-grossing and seventh-longest-running Broadway show of all time, Wicked.
While PAW was correct in suggesting that Tiger pride will impel many alums to anoint their own class as most influential, we believe it was destined to be a hopeless effort for all but the members of one class.