ROYCE FLIPPIN JR. ’56, Princeton’s director of athletics from 1972 to 1979, died July 31 at age 87. A fleet-footed tailback and football captain as an undergraduate, Flippin returned to the University after a career in business and investing. He led the athletics department during a period of notable successes, including an NIT championship for men’s basketball, and oversaw the early years of women’s athletics at Princeton. Flippin also expanded recreational sports, converting parts of Dillon Gym into a fitness center.
YING-SHIH YU, a prominent historian of China who taught in Princeton’s East Asian studies department for 14 years, died Aug. 1 at age 91. In a New York Times obituary, professor emeritus Willard Peterson hailed Yu’s versatility, noting that when he was hired, “our cohort of China specialists together realized that Professor Yu had at least one major publication in each of our special fields.” Yu also supported scholars and intellectuals exiled from China following the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests. His pro-democracy views later sparked reprisals from the Chinese government.