Earth Equity News

Princeton Gets a $100 Million Gift for Climate Change Studies. By Tom Avril, Philadelphia Inquirer, July 2, 2008. "Princeton University plans to announce a $100 million gift today that will establish a major new engineering center to tackle the issues of energy and the environment, with a strong focus on climate change. The gift, from alumnus and business executive Gerhard R. Andlinger, is tied with two others for the largest made to the university. The money represents the initial piece of what will be $400 million in university spending on these issues over the next decade, Princeton president Shirley M. Tilghman said in a phone interview. Princeton already has strong programs addressing both policy and basic science related to global warming and energy use. The new Andlinger gift is designed to enable the engineering school to develop technological solutions for the marketplace. A handful of other universities have strong interdisciplinary approaches like this one, but Princeton has an added benefit purely because of its location, said David G. Hawkins, director of climate programs for... NRDC. Just across Route 1 are two prominent institutions, both with strong ties to Princeton, that study key pieces of the climate puzzle: The Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is in the business of modeling the earth's climate. The Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, which is funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, seeks to harness the power of nuclear fusion... Andlinger, 77, a native of Austria, first visited the United States in 1948 as the winner of a newspaper essay contest. He later entered Princeton on a scholarship as a junior, graduating in 1952. He is chairman and founder of Andlinger & Co., an investment firm in Tarrytown, N.Y. Andlinger's son Merrick, who graduated from Princeton in 1980 and is president of the firm, said his father felt the need to address the climate issue after his work with various companies in the 'energy and carbon sectors.'"