Volume LXXVIII, Number 16
Princeton Porchfest Returns on April 27 . . . 5 Crash on Route 1 in South Brunswick Claims Three Lives . . . . . . . . . 8 Jugtown Proposal Taken Off HPC Meeting Agenda . . . . . . . . . . 8 Young Afghan Woman Continues Education Journey . . . . . . . . . . 11 PU Women’s Open Rowers Shine at Ivy Invite, Displaying their Depth with Dominant Efforts . . . . 26 PHS Boys’ Tennis Produces 4-0 Start, Primed to Contend for 2nd Straight MCT Crown . . . . . . . . .30
Patti Smith Ponders the Mystery of Murakami During National Poetry Month . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Art . . . . . . . . . . . . 22, 23 Books . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Calendar . . . . . . . . . . 24 Classifieds . . . . . . . . . 35 Green and Healthy . . .20, 21 Mailbox . . . . . . . . . . . 15 New to Us. . . . . . . . . . 25 Obituaries . . . . . . . . . 34 Outdoor Camps . . . . . . . .13 Performing Arts . . . 18, 19 Real Estate . . . . . . . . 35 Religion . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Topics of the Town . . . . 5 Town Talk . . . . . . . . . . 6
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IAS’ Avi Wigderson Wins Turing Award For Computer Science Avi Wigderson, the Herbert H. Maass Professor in the Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) School of Mathematics, has been awarded the 2023 Association for Computing Machinery’s (ACM) A.M. Turing Award for his groundbreaking work in theoretical computer science and the role of randomness in computation. The Turing Award, often referred to as the “Nobel Prize of Computing,” comes with a prize of $1 million. Wigderson, who won the 2021 Abel Prize, considered the highest honor in mathematics, is the only person ever to have won both Turing and Abel awards. In announcing the award, the ACM noted Wigderson’s “reshaping our understanding of the role of randomness in computation” and “his decades of intellectual leadership in theoretical computer science.” The ACM also cited his leadership in the areas of “computational complexity theory, algorithms and optimization, randomness and cryptography, parallel and distributed computation, combinatorics, and graph theory, as well as connections between theoretical computer science and mathematics and science.” In a conversation with IAS Director David Nirenberg, Wigderson discussed his Turing Award and his career in the mathematics of computer science. Wigderson leads the program in Computer Science and Discrete Mathematics, which was formally established at IAS in 1999 when he was appointed to the permanent faculty there. “That’s the field I chose, and that’s where I stayed these four decades, and I’m extremely happy that I had such luck choosing this area,” he said. “I wouldn’t change anything. I think that it is blessed with all the virtues that one can hope for in a research area. It contains an amazing collection of deep and intellectually fundamental questions that are important to people, to science, to life, to technology.” He continued, “There is an amazing set of brilliant people who are in this field, and they’re not just brilliant, they’re exceedingly nice. Somehow the atmosphere in this field is fantastic. And many of my lifelong friends have been students of mine or collaborators of mine. It’s hard to imagine that I could find anything better anywhere.” Continued on Page 14
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Celebrating a New Library for a New Era More than 20 years ago, Princeton residents were enmeshed in discussions about replacing the burgeoning library building, and how to encourage people to spend more time in the library. With the support of the two municipal governments of that time, donations from residents, and the visionary thinking of those involved, the result is the gleaming brick and glass three-story building on Hinds Plaza, named for donors George and Estelle Sands, that opened on April 24, 2004. The Princeton Public Library will celebrate this milestone, the 20th anniversary of the Sands Library Building, on Wednesday, April 24 with a photo exhibition, a panel of three key individuals in the development of the new building, a tour of public art in the building, and short films about the library, with cake, all at the library. The exhibit starts at 1 p.m., and the other events are from 5 to 9 p.m. “Many people new to Princeton assume that the library has always had a facility as magnificent as the Sands Library Building,” said Jennifer Podolsky, executive director of the library. “When I was
new here, I soon found out that wasn’t the case — that creating a new library for Princeton was actually a decades-long process to build public support, craft a vision, and raise capital. We’re so happy to be welcoming some of the people who made this building a reality.” The Princeton Public Library opened in 1909, and was originally located at the historic Bainbridge House on Nassau Street, the current home of the Princeton University Art Museum’s Art@Bainbridge.
In 1966 the growing library moved to 65 Witherspoon Street in a building designed by Thaddeus Longstreth. By 2002 the library had a collection of 130,000 books in a building designed for 80,000. After deliberations about siting, a new library was built on the same footprint on Witherspoon Street. “The changes in the building reflected new ways of thinking about libraries,” said Leslie Burger, former Princeton Library executive director and currently interim
The fourth graders at Riverside Elementary School saw a collaborative project with the Princeton Shade Tree Commission (STC) come to fruition last week when two young trees were planted in the Riverside playground area. The seven-month endeavor, also supported by the Princeton Education Foundation, began early last September during the fourth graders’ afternoon recess period. The playground had recently lost
several trees, and five of Terry McGovern and Allie Klapsogeorge’s students decided to collect acorns and sell them in order to raise money to acquire a new tree for the playground. McGovern suggested that they contact their local Shade Tree Commission (STC) to get some help with the project. Fortunately the Riverside in-house substitute teacher, Raymond DeVoe, also happened to be a member of the STC.
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Riverside Students Plant Playground Trees, Successfully Complete Year-Long Project
Continued on Page 12
CELEBRATING EARTH DAY: Children’s Story Time with Princeton Public Library at the Veblen House Gardens was one of many events at the Friends of Herrontown Woods Earth Day Celebration on Saturday. Attendees discuss the environmental issues that are important to them in this week’s Town Talk on page 6. (Photo by Sarah Teo)
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