Princeton University Podcasts

Recent financial reforms—most notably the Dodd-Frank Act and the Basel III rules—are often described as “reining in Wall Street,” preventing taxpayer bailouts and protecting consumers from financial meltdowns. Simply reining in Wall Street, however, is not sufficient. With the benefit of recent lessons and improved knowledge of human behavior, we should work to release the potential of financial innovation. Despite the bad press financial innovation has received as a result of some individuals and institutions taking advantage of faulty innovations to enrich themselves, financial innovation has the potential to prevent worsening inequality and other social problems. History shows that advances in civil society have been associated with progress in financial institutions and practices. Robert J. Shiller is the Arthur M. Okun Professor of Economics at Yale University.

On Sunday, September 12, Samuel Wang, Associate Professor of Neuroscience and Molecular Biology, addressed the Class of 2014 for the annual freshman assembly on the subject of "Neuroscience and Everyday Life." Professor Wang offered the following introduction to his lecture: "Our brains are essential to every aspect of our everyday lives, even though we are often not aware of it. The last few decades have been an incredible time of discovery and new understanding of brain function from a medical, a biological, and a philosophical point of view. I'll show you how neuroscience has touched your life and will continue to do so in the coming four years and for the rest of your lives."

Challenging the freshman class to embrace two ideas that might seem to be in contradiction, Princeton President Shirley M. Tilghman told incoming students to spend their Princeton career building deep expertise in a specialty while also developing broad understanding. The new students and their families -- joined by new and returning graduate students, other undergraduates, faculty and staff -- filled the University Chapel and two simulcast sites for the interfaith service that traditionally marks the start of each academic year. Members of the class of 2014 entered the chapel with other students in their respective residential colleges. Each group was led by a student carrying a colorful banner bearing the college shield, as the students preceded faculty members and administrators in academic regalia. The procession followed African drummers and kite-bearers waving shimmering pieces of cloth on long poles. In addition to Tilghman's address, the event included music, prayers and readings from various religious and philosophical traditions. Undergraduate students also were recognized for their academic achievements during the previous year.

Commencement is an open meeting of the Board of Trustees held on the front lawn of Nassau Hall, weather permitting. The program includes brief speeches by the salutatorian, the valedictorian, and the president of the University; the awarding of degrees to undergraduate and graduate students; the conferral of teaching awards to several New Jersey high school teachers and Princeton University faculty; and conferral of honorary degrees. Individual diplomas are distributed following the ceremony.

The Hooding ceremony for advanced degree candidates was held at 5 p.m., May 31 in McCarter Theatre. Princeton President Shirley M. Tilghman and Graduate School Dean William Russel presided.

The Class Day ceremony is planned and presented by the members of the senior class. Although it varies from year to year, the event traditionally gives seniors an opportunity to acknowledge publicly achievements and contributions of members of the class and University community. The program includes the awarding of various prizes to classmates, student speeches, honorary class member inductions, a review of the class history, and remarks by President Shirley M. Tilghman. Class Day ends with the singing of “Old Nassau.”

Commencement activities start on Sunday with the Baccalaureate ceremony in the University Chapel. This University convocation begins with an academic procession of faculty, trustees, administrators and undergraduate degree candidates. The interfaith program, which lasts approximately one hour, includes music, prayers and readings from a variety of religious traditions, as well as an address by a guest speaker. This year's speaker is Jeff Bezos '86, founder and chief executive officer of Amazon.com

Francis J. Mirabello ’75 P07, a partner and the manager of the Personal Law Practice of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP in Philadelphia, presented a practical discussion to Princeton alumni on how to ensure their estate plans achieved their goals for family and philanthropy, particularly in light of changing federal estate and transfer tax laws under consideration in Congress.

Matthew Taibbi, a contributing editor at Rolling Stone, and Gillian Tett, the U.S. managing editor of Financial Times, will talk about the causes and possible outcomes of the current financial crisis. Taibbi, a 1991 graduate of Bard College who finished his studies at Leningrad Polytechnical University, has worked as a freelance reporter in the Soviet Union and Uzbekistan. In 1997 he and writer Mark Ames founded a Moscow-based, English-language newspaper, the Exile, which reported on corruption in the Russian government and in American aid organizations. Returning to the United States in 2002 he founded a Buffalo newspaper, The Beast, before leaving to work for the New York Press, and then Rolling Stone. He is the author of The Great Derangement (Spiegel and Grau, 2008) about corruption and absurdity in modern American politics, and two collections of essays. The recipient of the 2008 National Magazine Award for Columns and Commentary, he was named in 2004 by the New York Observer one of the most influential young New Yorkers. More recently he has received attention for a March 2009 article in Rolling Stone, “The Big Takeover,” in which he examines the close connections between Washington lawmakers and Wall Street. Tett is the author of Fool’s Gold: How Unrestrained Greed Corrupted a Dream, Shattered Global Markets and Unleashed a Catastrophe (Simon and Schuster, 2009), which won the Spear’s Book Award for the financial book of 2009. Tett joined the Financial Times in 1993 after receiving a Ph.D. in social anthropology from Cambridge University. Before her appointment as U.S. managing editor in 2010 she served as assistant editor for the FT’s markets coverage as well as capital markets editor, deputy editor of the Lex column, Tokyo bureau chief and correspondent, the London-based economics reporter, and a reporter in Russia and Brussels. British Press Awards named her Journalist of the Year in 2009 and Business Journalist of the Year in 2008. In addition to Fool’s Gold, she is the author of Saving the Sun: A Wall Street Gamble to Rescue Japan from Its Trillion Dollar Meltdown (Harper Collins, 2003).

April 19, 2010. Louis Clark Vanuxem Lecture