ABOUT PAW
An Editorially Independent Magazine
By Alumni For Alumni Since 1900
The Princeton Alumni Weekly — known as PAW — keeps Princeton alumni connected to each other and to their University. We’re part of Princeton, which means we have a first-hand view of University news. Yet we’re also editorially independent, so we can report that news with objectivity. Online and in print, we offer timely news and analysis, thoughtful interviews and essays, insightful coverage of Princeton sports and arts, in-depth profiles of undergraduate and graduate alumni, and a lively letters section. With each new issue, more than 80 classes of Princeton graduates stay in touch through password-protected Class Notes that incorporate dozens of photos. Alumni memorials are written by classmates specifically for PAW.
Founded in 1900, the magazine once was published weekly and now comes out 11 times each year, more than any other alumni magazine in the world. Online stories and multimedia features provide additional content for readers. PAW also publishes an annual guide to one of Princeton’s greatest traditions, Reunions.
PAW’s Relationship With Princeton University
Under a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed in October 2021, PAW is an administrative unit within the University that maintains editorial independence and operates in accordance with all applicable University policies and procedures. As outlined in the MOU, the University does not provide content for publication or review articles in advance of publication for the purposes of editing or revising content. PAW makes available in each issue space for the president of the University to communicate with the alumni (the “President’s Page”), and PAW does not edit or revise the content of the President’s Page.
Meet the PAW team
Peter Barzilai s’97
Editor
Peter was appointed in July 2022 and oversees PAW operations, including editorial content and strategy for print and digital. He was previously at USA TODAY for 19 years, serving in several roles, including as deputy managing editor of sports. He has also worked as an editor and reporter at the New York Daily News, Palm Beach (Fla.) Post, Asbury Park Press, and Los Angeles Times. He is a graduate of California State University, Fullerton, and remains a Californian at heart.
Brett Tomlinson
Managing Editor
Brett manages the magazine’s campus news coverage and Inbox section. Before joining PAW in 2003, he covered news and sports for The Morning Call (Allentown, Pa.) and its affiliated Chronicle publications. He is a graduate of Bucknell University and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
Carlett Spike
Associate Editor
Carlett edits PAW’s Princetonians and Research sections. Prior to joining PAW in 2019, Carlett was a writer for the University of Delaware’s news service, UDaily, and a Delacorte magazine fellow for Columbia Journalism Review. She is a proud Rutgers alumna and earned her master’s degree from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
Elisabeth H. Daugherty
Digital Editor
Elisabeth edits the magazine’s digital side, including stories, newsletters, podcasts, and social media. Before joining PAW in 2020, she was digital enterprise editor for The Virginian-Pilot newspaper (Norfolk, Va.) and previously education reporter for The Capital newspaper (Annapolis, Md.). She is a graduate of Bucknell University and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
Nicholas DeVito
Class Notes and Memorials Editor
Nicholas edits PAW’s Class Notes and Memorials, as well as the From the Archives segment. He joined PAW in July 2016. He has a magazine background editing, writing, and freelancing for such magazines as Home Office Computing and Black Enterprise. He also has a background in education, teaching middle- and high-school students before returning back to his love of publishing. Nicholas earned a bachelor's degree in American studies and a master's degree in education from Rider University.
Mark F. Bernstein ’83
Senior Writer
Mark, PAW’s senior writer, has written for the magazine since 2003. A former lawyer and cartoonist, he is also the author of four books on politics and sports, as well as a documentary film on Ivy League football.
Julie Bonette
Writer/Assistant Editor
Julie writes for the magazine’s On the Campus section. Before joining PAW in early 2022, she worked in communications for Dartmouth College. She received her master’s degree in creative writing from Dartmouth and is a proud alumna of Northeastern University.
Matt Cole
Art Director
Matt brings over 20 years of experience in editorial art direction and design to PAW. He has directed and designed art for architecture, travel, business, and lifestyle magazines, among others. Prior to joining PAW, Matt was Seattle magazine’s design director. He is a graduate of Ohio University’s School of Visual Communication.
Allison Sullivan
Publishing Director
Allison is responsible for all of the business functions and advertising at PAW. She has more than 25 years’ experience as a designer, marketer, and publisher. Most recently, Allison served as the publisher for several B2B publications. She is a graduate of The College of New Jersey.
as7811@princeton.edu | 609-258-2107
Grace Ni ’23
Administrative Coordinator
Grace joined PAW in November 2023 and helps oversee advertising and marketing tasks while also aiding the editorial team. Before graduating from Princeton University in May 2023, she was the captain of the varsity women’s golf team. She majored in history with certificates in Asian American Studies and Diplomacy. Her senior thesis was titled Wanna Grab Some Take Out? A History of Chinese Food in America From 1850 to the Present.
Hope Perry ’24
Reporting Fellow
Hope joined PAW in 2024 as the magazine’s first reporting fellow. During her time as an undergraduate at Princeton, she served as a reporter, newsletter editor, head podcast editor, and managing editor for The Daily Princetonian. She interned last summer at the Centre Daily Times in State College, Pennsylvania, where she won an award for investigative reporting. Hope’s thesis, submitted to the Classics Department, is titled Risking your life to live the dream: exploitation in Roman chariot racing and American college football.
What is PAW’s mission?
PAW’s purposes are: (1) to arouse, foster, and maintain interest in, and disseminate information concerning, the University; (2) to record news of the alumni and to review without partiality the achievements and problems of the administration, faculty, and student body of the University; (3) to convey as complete, fair, and accurate an understanding of the University and its alumni as possible; (4) to strive for standards of excellence befitting the University and the alumni body and to change over time in ways that reflect changes in the University and in the interests of the alumni; (5) to provide alumni with a continued sense of belonging to the University and with opportunities to communicate with each other; and (6) to advance the long-term best interests of the University and the alumni. With its content, PAW seeks to evoke memories of Princeton past, convey an understanding of Princeton today, and foster thoughtful consideration of the many challenges facing Princeton and Princetonians in the future.
Who receives PAW?
PAW has a circulation of more than 100,000. All undergraduate and graduate alumni receive the magazine. In addition, Princeton University faculty members and professional staff receive PAW. Other interested readers may subscribe by emailing the publishing director, Allison Sulllivan, at as7811@princeton.edu; regular domestic subscriptions cost $30 per year ($34 outside the United States).
How is PAW funded?
The University sets and funds 100 percent of PAW’s annual budget. Revenue from external advertising may supplement the University-established budget for special projects.
Who is on PAW’s advisory board, and what is its role?
PAW’s board provides editorial guidance and broad oversight for the magazine. The board also helps to ensure that PAW remains editorially independent.
There are 12 voting members on the board: seven alumni with professional experience in media, including a member of one of the three most recent undergraduate classes and one representative of graduate alumni; one faculty member; the vice chair of the Alumni Council; the chair of the Alumni Council on Class Affairs; the deputy vice president for alumni engagement; and one member appointed by the president of the University.
Current board members are:
Bene Cipolla ’95, Chair
Naomi Nix ’10, Vice Chair
* Jennifer Caputo
Juliet Eilperin ’92
Christina H. Lee *99 s*99
* Andrew Lewis ’12
* Hilary Parker ’01
Laura Dannen Redman ’03
Greg Rosalsky *13
* Ryan Ruskin ’90
Jessica Stahl ’06
Ethan Sterenfeld ’20,
Young alumni representative
* ex officio
Additional questions?
Would you like to submit a class note, change your address, send a letter to the editor, or inquire about writing for PAW? Learn more in our Frequently Asked Questions.
OUR STORY
EDITORS OF PAW
Jesse Lynch Williams 1892
1900 - 1904
Princeton Alumni Weekly’s founding editor, Williams is best remembered for his later work as an author and playwright. He won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1918 for the Broadway comedy Why Marry?
Edwin M. “Ted” Norris 1895
1904 - 1925
Norris was PAW’s longest-serving editor, spending 21 years in the job until his death in 1925. “Probably no other Princeton alumnus has ever had so wide a Princeton acquaintance,” his memorialists wrote, “and Ted Norris’ acquaintances were all his friends.”
Asa S. Bushnell 1921
1925 - 1930
Bushnell’s editorial stint preceded a career in athletics administration, including more than three decades as commissioner of the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference. He later chaired the Concerned Alumni of Princeton, a group that opposed coeducation.
Edmund S. DeLong 1922
1930 - 1931
DeLong, a newspaper reporter who served as Princeton’s director of public information from 1945 to 1965, edited PAW for one 36-issue publishing year early in his journalism career before handing the role over to his assistant, Datus C. Smith Jr. ’29.
Datus C. Smith Jr. ’29
1931 - 1940
Smith’s decade as editor included a significant expansion in PAW’s use of photography, along with printing advances that allowed the magazine to use color on its covers (and in some advertisements). He later served as director of the Princeton University Press and helped launch the Papers of Thomas Jefferson series.
Douglas E. Stuart ’35
1940 - 1942
Stuart led the magazine’s coverage as the University transitioned to wartime until he enlisted in the U.S. Army. He wrote a dispatch for PAW about his experience in Officer Candidate School. After the war, he continued to work in publishing.
Ernest T. Stewart Jr. ’41
1946 - 1951
Stewart took charge after a series of acting editors during World War II and, in five years at the helm, showed “vitality, imagination, a due sense of humor, good writing, good reporting, [and] a fair weighing of the interests of each part of the Princeton family,” according to the Board of Editorial Direction.
Phillip W. Quigg ’43
1951 - 1955
Before departing to join the staff of Foreign Affairs, Quigg wrote a column in praise of PAW’s editorial independence, arguing that publications “with the greatest editorial freedom are the most readable and in the long run serve best the institution for which they exist.” As an undergraduate, Quigg contributed to series of 1942 Daily Princetonian editorials that advocated for the admission Black students.
John D. Davies ’41
1955 - 1969
Davies, a former history professor who had a Ph.D. from Yale, led PAW during a period of remarkable expansion at the University. Plans for coeducation filled the pages of PAW in his final year and inspired Davies’ lone editorial, “Coeducation — A Self-Evident Conclusion.” He also wrote a book about hockey and football hero Hobey Baker 1914, published in 1966.
Landon Y. Jones Jr. ’66
1969 - 1974
Overseeing PAW during the dawn of coeducation and the tumultuous Vietnam War era, Jones gave in-depth coverage to the issues of the day and occasionally took the lead on key stories such as the protests at Secretary of the Interior Walter Hickel’s 1970 speech on campus. Jones went on to edit People magazine and has published several books of biography and cultural studies.
Charles L. Creesy ’65
1975 - 1987
A former Peace Corps volunteer and managing editor of New Leader magazine, Creesy led PAW as it transitioned from its weekly publishing schedule in 1977 and devoted more space to long-form journalism. Creesy also pioneered “Electronic PAW” in 1984 — a “computer bulletin board system” for alumni — and later headed publishing technology at the Princeton University Press.
Michelle Preston *86
1987 - 1989
As a Ph.D. student in the English department, Preston enrolled in John McPhee ’53’s “Literature of Fact” and shifted her goals from academia to journalism. After serving as a fact checker for The New Yorker, she became the first woman and first graduate alum to lead PAW.
J.I. Merritt ’66
1989 - 1999
Merritt worked in the University administration before his 10-year term as editor, a period that included PAW’s amicable separation from its longtime owner, the Princeton University Press, in 1991. He chronicled the magazine’s history and highlighted some of its most memorable stories in The Best of PAW: 100 Years of the Princeton Alumni Weekly (2000).
Jane Chapman Martin ’89
2000 - 2002
Martin oversaw a bold redesign of the print magazine that endured for more than a decade, despite initially mixed reviews from readers. Memorable issues in her time as editor included the Nov. 7, 2001, edition that featured tributes to the alumni killed in the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
Marilyn Marks *86
2002 - 2022
In two decades at the helm, Marks curated theme issues on topics ranging from music to resilience, established the annual Lives Lived and Lost appreciations, and oversaw redesigns of the print magazine and PAW’s website (twice). She also worked with the University and the PAW board to revise the magazine’s funding and governance while maintaining its editorial independence.
NOTABLE CONTRIBUTORS
Herbert S. Bailey ’42
Donald Grant Herring 1907
Elizabeth Menzies
Christian Gauss
Whitney Darrow 1903
Frank Deford ’61
Merrell Noden ’78
Ann Waldron
William Zinsser ’44
Parke H. Davis 1893
PAW IN PRINT
December 2024
Hidden heroines; U.N. speaker controversy; Kathy Crow ’89’s connections