New Director Named at Princeton’s IAS
The Institute for Advanced Study has appointed David Nirenberg as its 10th director and Leon Levy professor, effective July 1, 2022. Nirenberg is currently dean of the Divinity School at the University of Chicago and professor of medieval history.
Nirenberg takes the reins from Robbert Dijkgraaf, the theoretical physicist and string theorist who has served as director since July, 2012.
Nirenberg’s roles at the University of Chicago have included serving as founding director of the Neubauer Collegium for Culture and Society, dean of the social sciences, and executive vice provost.
“David’s administrative accomplishments, like the Institute itself, transcend cultural and disciplinary boundaries, providing new frameworks of knowledge to understand society and to realize the power of collective curiosity,” said Nancy Peretsman, IAS Board vice chair and chair of the eight-membr director search committee, in a statement. “David offers the leadership qualities to ensure that IAS remains a significant center for basic research as it approaches its centennial. We are thrilled to welcome David as our next director.”
In his academic role at the University of Chicago Nirenberg explores a wide-range of ideas about communication, exchange, and social relations.
“The appointment of a humanities scholar is a bold choice, which departs from several decades of directors trained in science and mathematics, but reaffirms in the strongest sense the importance of cross-disciplinary collaboration at IAS,” said Charles Simonyi, IAS Board chair, in a statement. “An energetic and astute leader, David understands that the Institute is a public good in service of society: to be a haven for scholars with a long view ready to share the fruits of their curiosity.”
As founding director of the Neubauer Collegium for Culture and Society at the University of Chicago, Nirenberg championed a program that afforded both funding and space to catalyze collaborations across every division, school, and affiliated laboratory at the university. By uniting practitioners across fields, the collegium enables novel investigations and new forms of thinking based on the cross-pollination of ideas.
“Since the Institute’s creation in 1930, discoveries by its faculty have transformed fields from mathematics and physics to anthropology and art history. The Institute has also served the nation and the world through the constant performance of its founding values: that discriminations by gender and race are inimical to excellence, that scholars and ideas must move freely if fundamental knowledge is to flourish, and that when knowledge flourishes, humanity benefits” said Nirenberg. “Both these tasks — discovery and the defense of these values — feel as urgent today as they were at the founding of this marvelous institution that I am so proud to be joining.”
While dean of the Division of the Social Sciences at the University of Chicago, Nirenberg led efforts to create the Computational Social Science program and to establish the Center for International Social Science Research and the Committee on Quantitative Social Science. These endeavors shared the goal of accelerating the diffusion of new methodologies across disciplinary boundaries and expanding possibilities for discovery.
“I grew up in a Spanish-speaking household in upstate New York, sparking my lifelong attraction to conversations across languages and cultures. As a Visitor at the Institute in 1996, I remember feeling as if I had suddenly found home. My experience was typical: the Institute’s polyglot conversations change every scholar who enters them, creating new connections and enabling discovery” said Nirenberg. “Are there ways to give the global scholarly community more access to that transformative power? Can we extend those conversations to new publics? Those are questions that the Institute has been and will be thinking a great deal about.”
Nirenberg was born to immigrant parents from Argentina who eventually settled in Albany, New York. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Yale University in 1986 and earned his master’s in 1989 and Ph.D. in 1992 from Princeton University’s Department of History. Nirenberg was a visiting scholar in the IAS School of Historical Studies in the 1996-’97 academic year.
Nirenberg is the author of numerous books and articles on Christians, Jews, and Muslims of medieval Europe and the Mediterranean. His wide-ranging scholarship has informed the work of social scientists and historians, providing deep insights into present-day challenges of racism, Anti-Semitism, hate speech, and inequality.
With a mathematician, Ricardo Nirenberg, for a father, David learned early on how to consider subjects from the perspective of different disciplines. The pair jointly authored the book “Uncountable: A Philosophical History of Number and Humanity from Antiquity to the Present,” which explores the claims that underpin different forms of knowledge and seeks to understand the powers and limits of the sciences and the humanities.
“I couldn’t think of a better choice to hand over the baton. I have come to know David as an eminent scholar, creative thinker, and thoughtful academic leader with an impressive track record of success. He has a deep connection to the core values of IAS of joining together excellence, diverse perspectives, and the limitless possibilities of the shared pursuit of knowledge,” Dijkgraaf said in a statement. “This appointment will add many new dimensions to the intellectual life at the Institute that I hope to enjoy personally for many years to come.”
Nirenberg has held additional academic positions at Rice University and Johns Hopkins University, where he founded the Stulman Center for Jewish Studies. He has served on the boards of the Argonne National Laboratory and the National Opinion Research Center.
Nirenberg is married to Sofía Torallas Tovar, a professor of Classics and Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations and member of the Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago. He has a son, Alexander Nirenberg, and stepdaughter, Eira Nylander Torallas.
Integra Names New President & CEO
Plainsboro-based medical technology company Integra LifeSciences has named Jan D. De Witte as its next president and CEO. De Witte, who will start in his new role toward the end of the year, replaces Peter J. Arduini, who earlier this year announced his departure to become president and CEO of GE Healthcare.
DeWitte has more than two decades of experience in the healthcare industry. For the past five years he has served as CEO of Barco N.V., a Belgian company focused on digital projection and imaging technology. He also spent 17 years in leadership roles at GE, including serving as president and CEO of GE Global Healthcare IT. Prior to GE, De Witte spent five years in strategic consulting at McKinsey and three years in operations at Procter & Gamble.
De Witte holds a master’s of science degree in electromechanical engineering with greatest distinction from the KU Leuven in Belgium and a master’s degree in business administration from Harvard University.
“We are thrilled to have Jan join Integra at this exciting time in the company’s history,” Integra board chair Stuart Essig said in a statement. “Jan is a proven global business leader with extensive C-level experience at internationally-recognized companies. His deep experience in healthcare and technology, commitment to advancing sustainability and proven ability to develop and commercialize innovative new products led the board to select Jan as Integra’s next CEO.”
Integra LifeSciences, 1100 Campus Road, Princeton 08540. 609-275-0500. www.integralife.com.
Deaths
Sally Jane (Applegate) Giovanos, 85, on October 23. Prior to raising her family she worked for Carter Wallace for 12 years and later served 23 years as the municipal treasurer for Cranbury Township.
Rose Taylor, 73, on October 17. She worked in human resources for the State of New Jersey for 35 years.
Felicia J. Klama Stoj, 100, on October 25. She worked as a circuit breaker tester at Circle F in Trenton and Heinemann Electric in Lawrence.
Denice M. “Pidge” Stoj, 66, on October 25. She spent 36 years working for the state Department of Treasury in various roles within the Taxation Division.
Annette H. Gifford Nalbone, 75, on October 24. She retired after 25 years from the state Division of Youth and Family Services and previously spent 10 years with Bell Telephone in Trenton.
Henry J. Adams Jr., 85, on October 24. He first worked for the state as a model builder for the Highway Department and spent most of his career with the Hamilton Township Public Works Department, retiring as the managing supervising inspector of Public Works. He also served as the township’s director of emergency management.
Christopher Strycharz, 83, on October 27. He worked for Princeton University as a security guard.
Marion M. Murphy, 96, on October 27. She worked as an administrative assistant for the Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Trenton for many years.
Dorothy D. Intravatola, 86, on October 23. She operated Dorothe Interiors, an interior design and decorating shop in Jamesburg, for more than 50 years.
