Welcoming the incoming engineering class Aug. 26, Dean Andrea Goldsmith called on students to make the most of Princeton’s opportunities, embrace risk-taking, and form strong bonds with faculty members and fellow students.
“I hope that every one of you will take advantage of all that Princeton has to offer its undergraduates, and that you will find yourselves transformed by your experience here and the friends and the mentors you will encounter on your journey to becoming an educated citizen of the world,” said Goldsmith, the Arthur LeGrand Doty Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering.
“This is a very exciting time to be a student in SEAS,” she added, noting the growth in numbers of faculty, graduate students and undergraduates, as well as new buildings in progress for the School of Engineering and Applied Science.
With a record 459 first-year students, engineering undergraduates represent about 32% of the entering Class of 2028. Around 42% of the first-year engineering students are women, a figure that is well above the U.S. average for engineering undergraduates, said Goldsmith.
Emphasizing the importance of diversity along all dimensions, she said, “The engineering profession needs that diversity of ideas, experiences and perspectives to create the best technology that will change the world for the better.”
Goldsmith said that students would have the opportunity to form strong bonds with engineering faculty members through both coursework and senior thesis research — highlighting the senior thesis and independent work as a unique aspect of engineering education at Princeton.
She also encouraged students to learn from their peers, both within and beyond the engineering school, and to embrace the breadth of a liberal arts education, “because what you learn will make you a better engineer and a better engineering leader.”
Sharing her own journey to becoming an engineer, a startup founder and an academic leader, Goldsmith told students to take risks and to not be afraid of failure. She also related the challenges she faced as a first-year student that nearly caused her to stop pursuing engineering.
“If you haven’t failed, you haven’t taken enough risks and you haven’t set your aspirations high enough. And I hope that all of you will do that during your time here and beyond.”
Goldsmith said she looked forward to meeting students individually and invited them to share their feedback and perspectives.
“Even as the dean, I continue to supervise and mentor students, and this has always been the very best part of being a faculty member,” she said. “I welcome the opportunity to hear your ideas, learn about your experiences at Princeton, and provide you with my own perspective and experience that might be helpful as you craft your own professional journey.”
