Woman to Head Princeton
Shirley M. Tilghman, a pioneer in the efforts to map the human genome, was chosen Saturday to be Princeton University’s first female president.
Tilghman, an outspoken feminist and renowned molecular biologist, will succeed Harold T. Shapiro, who will retire next month after 13 years as university president, according to a Princeton news release.
“She epitomizes the academic values of our university,” said Robert H. Rawson Jr., chairman of the trustees’ executive committee. “On top of that, she’s enormously approachable.” Rawson, who chaired the search committee, said Tilghman’s selection was unanimous.
Throughout her career, Tilghman, 54, has combined teaching, groundbreaking research and political advocacy for such issues as women in science and stem cell research. She co-founded Princeton’s Council on Science and Technology and runs the school’s Institute for Integrative Genomics.
Her selection as Princeton’s 19th president comes 32 years after the Ivy League school began admitting undergraduate women. The school’s presidents include former U.S. President Wilson.
“Gender had nothing to do with the decision we made,” Rawson said, nevertheless pleased at the historic nature of Tilghman’s selection. “She simply stood out above all comers.”
“I think it is indicative that in the last 255 years, Princeton has only had 18 presidents,” Tilghman said. “People who serve this place serve it with dedication, with love.”
Until six weeks ago, Tilghman was a member of the search committee, Rawson said. One day when she left a meeting to teach a class, the others raised the prospect of considering her.
Tilghman, a native of Canada and the mother of two grown children, helped clone the first mammalian gene while doing postdoctoral work at the National Institutes of Health.
A peek at her Web site hints of Tilghman’s sense of humor and popularity on campus.
“Welcome to the Tilghman Lab home page,” states an introduction centered below two brown mice. “Our fearless leader is Dr. Shirley Tilghman.”
