21 Questions with... Shirley Tilghman

PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PREZ

Name: Shirley Tilghman
Occupation on Campus: President
Major: Molecular Biology
Hometown: Princeton

Who's your favorite Princetonian, living or dead, real or fictional?
My daughter Becca '03

What is your greatest guilty pleasure?
Ice cream.

What's the best meal you've eaten in Princeton?
Any meal cooked by Sally Lewis Lamonica, the chef at Lowrie House

In one sentence, what do you actually do all day?
I work to ensure that in the future, including tomorrow, Princeton University is fulfilling to the greatest extent possible its potential to transform the lives of its students, and discover new knowledge.

Best place on campus?
Icahn Lab

Worst place on campus?
My daughter's former dorm room in Wilson College

What are your favorite ways to relax?
Ski

What's the last student performance you saw?
Orpheus Waking - Friday night

What's hanging above your desk and/or bed?
Icahn Lab water color by Rafael Vinoly, the architect of Icahn Lab

Where do you do your best thinking?
Walking

Do you know all the words to Old Nassau?
Yes

If you could change something about Princeton, what would it be?
I would move the entire campus, lock, stock and barrel, to the site of the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. This would combine the most beautiful campus architecture (Princeton) with the most stunning natural setting (UBC).

What's your drink?
Diet Coke

What's your top vacation destination?
Colorado

How often do you cook?
Christmas and Thanksgiving

When's bedtime?
11:30 pm

New Butler or Old Butler?
New Butler!

Who is your mortal enemy?
Complacency

When's the last time you used cash?
Today

In 10 years, I will be…
doing something else

What makes someone a Princetonian?
Life long intellectual curiosity, and a commitment to use one's education to make the world a better place


CEA

(image source: princeton.edu)

Shirley Tilghman uses Big Words

Princeton University president Shirley Tilghman appeared on the Charlie Rose show last night.

Shirley discussed the Bush administration's political repression of science, bragged about Alex Barnard and his "mohawk up to here" and used the word "periodicity" when discussing how often the University rejects the idea of a Princeton Medical School (every 20 years or so). Charlie was much impressed.

See the video after the jump.
More...
On climate control and stem cell research: "In both of those cases, one could make the argument that the science was being manipulated to support a policy that the science actually did not necessarily lead to."

On creationism and intelligent design: "It was really a warping of science that led to the President, President Bush saying well, there's a lot of disagreement among scientists about whether Darwin's view of evolution is correct. That is just simply not the case ... It's been 150 years and his fundamental ideas that were based on very little evidence but incredible insight have held up extraordinarily well."

On our career choices: "Their experience at Princeton spending four years thinking deeply about what it means to be human...inform who they are when they are lawyers and doctors and...dare I say, bankers."

On the recession and Princeton's endowment: "We have made a commitment that we will not lose a single student for financial reasons, and so far we've been able to live up to that."

On a law school or medical school: "It's [a decision] that we revisit roughly with a periodicity of twenty years, so it's not like we never think about it."

On periodicity: "Periodicity --it's like a sine wave."

On green-haired students and Alex Barnard: "...the very very best student in the university...who had a mohawk hair-do up to here. You know? I just said, 'He's my guy!'"




(image source: njmonthly.com)

AW