Two engineering alumni take science and tech leadership roles in Biden administration
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Frances Arnold B.S.E. 1979
President Biden appointed Frances Arnold, a 1979 graduate in mechanical and aerospace engineering, to co-chair the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. Arnold is the Linus Pauling Professor of Chemical Engineering, Bioengineering and Biochemistry at the California Institute of Technology and the winner of the 2018 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
According to its website, the Council “advises the President on matters involving science, technology, education, and innovation policy. The Council also provides the President with scientific and technical information that is needed to inform public policy relating to the American economy, the American worker, national and homeland security, and other topics.”
In a visit to campus shortly after being awarded the Nobel Prize, Arnold encouraged students to take advantage of the diverse opportunities at Princeton. “It’s a remarkable thing that an engineer is given the time to explore lots of different opportunities,” she said, noting that her foundation in the liberal arts “has enabled me to go into many different areas in my career and make connections that I would not have been able to do otherwise.”
Robert Hampshire Ph.D. 2007
Robert Hampshire, who earned his Ph.D. in the Department of Operations Research and Financial Engineering (ORFE) in 2007, was sworn in Jan. 20 as principal deputy assistant secretary for research and technology at the U.S. Department of Transportation. Hampshire currently is an associate professor at the University of Michigan’s Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy.
Hampshire’s “unique blend of engineering systems research with public policy has made him a leader in not only transportation research, but also on the disparate impact of policy decisions in transportation systems,” according to the Department of Transportation. “This has led to important strides in our understanding of transportation equity.”
Hampshire returned to Princeton in 2019 to speak at the ORFE department colloquium, discussing “Smart Cities: Data and Decision Science for Parking Management.”
