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Incoming Wu and Upton Fellows
Top grad students welcomed
by
Sara Peters
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Photos by Frank Wojciechowski
The 2003 Francis
Upton Fellows are, clockwise, from left, Eden Chlamtac,
Luke A. Uribarri, Michael A. Shockling, Lan Dong, Gary
Shu, and Lin Fu.
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The dinner honoring the Sir Gordon Y.S. Wu and Francis Upton
graduate fellows appeared at first to be an elegant affair.
In the enchanting surroundings of Prospect House, neatly dressed
faculty and graduate students mingled, sipped wine, and nibbled
fine, imported cheese. Yet beneath the refined exterior there
was a spirit of fun and an air of relaxed camaraderie.
The dinner, which was held Sept. 30, began by allowing all six
Upton fellows, 16 Wu fellows, and all other attendees to introduce
themselves.
“The purpose of this meeting is, of course, to welcome
all of you to study here,” said Sanjeev Kulkarni,
associate dean of academic affairs, “but it is also to
give you an opportunity to get to know some people so you know
whom to go to for help.”
Among the honorees were Konstantin Makarychev
and Yury Makarychev, twin brothers from Moscow
State University. Their decision to go to school together seemed
to be as much because of a mutual admiration of Princeton as
an active choice to go to the same place.
“We are both very interested in theoretical computer science,
and we chose Princeton because it is very strong in this area,”
Konstantin said. “We wanted to go to the same university,
but on the other hand, both of us liked Princeton very much,
so it is hard to say whether it was a collective choice or we
chose it independently.”
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Bottom photo, the 2003 Sir Gordon Y.S.
Wu Graduate Fellows in Engineering are Yedidya Hilewitz,
Sharon M. Betz, Melanie B. Webb, Shannon M. Hughes,
Andrew Moroz, Rohit Kumar, Xiaoli Qi, Shien Jin Ong,
Yury Makarychev, Rhonda F. Bailey, Amit Agarwal, Mengmeng
Yu, Ying Li, Konstantin Makarychev, and Yue-Kai Huang.
Eric Banks is not pictured.
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Derek Paley, a second-year graduate student in mechanical
and aerospace engineering, chose the opportunity not just to
introduce himself, but to announce a major discovery: He believes
there may be a direct relationship between the annual Wu and
Upton dinner and the fate of the New York Yankees.
This year’s dinner was held right in the thick of baseball
playoff season. For the past two years, Mr. Paley has passed
up watching the games in order to attend the dinner, and each
time the Yankees lost their game that day. Mr. Paley, an avid
Red Sox fan, said he will be attending the Wu and Upton dinner
long after he’s earned his degree.
Once the introductions were through, Maria Klawe,
dean of the School of Engineering and Applied Science (SEAS),
officially welcomed the new students.
“You could not have picked a better place, or a better
time to come here,” Dean Klawe said. She encouraged graduate
students to become involved in the ongoing SEAS strategic planning
process.
“Princeton is an amazing institution, with an amazing
reputation that is fully deserved,” she said. “Even
better is that we have a president and a provost who are very
committed to taking this engineering school to the next level.”
Professor William Russel, dean of the Graduate
School and a professor of chemical engineering, was also in
attendance, and encouraged the graduate students to take advantage
of all the wonderful resources Princeton has to offer.
“Anyone who is going to be a Ph.D. or an academic could
benefit from the McGraw Center for Teaching and Learning,”
he said. “They help you to tell people who know very little
about your field what it is you’re doing.”
He described some other benefits the school provides for graduate
students, including fellowships and the new P-rides transit
system.
“I’d like you to appreciate the fact that not only
the Graduate School but the entire University is working to
support you,” he said, “so you can pursue the value
of scholarship that we all want you to achieve.”
Established in 1996, the Wu fellowships were created in honor
of Sir Gordon Y.S. Wu, who in 1958 earned his
bachelor of science in engineering from SEAS. Sir Gordon has
led the development and construction of highways, railroads,
and power generation stations throughout Asia.
The Upton fellowships are named in memory of Francis Robbins
Upton, the very first student to officially earn a graduate
degree from Princeton. He received a master of science in 1877.
Upton was a longtime associate of Thomas Edison, who relied
upon Upton to interpret his insights and translate them into
mathematical equations.
The Upton fellowships are made possible by a gift from the Lucy
and Eleanor S. Upton Charitable Foundation and matched by Sir
Gordon.
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