Graduate alumni play a critical role in encouraging and inspiring current graduate students along their professional development journey by serving as role models, connectors, mentors and advocates.
In 2021, nearly 375 graduate alumni engaged with the Graduate School, the University, and current graduate students by becoming involved in the GradFUTURES professional development initiative.
Here are just a few of the many ways you can help make a difference:
- Register to mentor a current graduate student as part of our GradFUTURES-Mentor Collective mentorship program
- Volunteer to serve as one of our Alumni-in-Residence to meet one-on-one with graduate students from your department to answer questions and offer advice.
- Serve as a panelist or facilitator for one of our many programs, such as our Signature Learning Cohorts to help expose graduate students to current trends and emerging fields
- Join the GradFUTURES LinkedIn group to connect with over 900+ graduate alumni and current graduate students.
- Volunteer to be interviewed for an alumni professional development video series or as part of the GradFUTURES Podcast (launched in spring 2022)
- Arrange an immersive experience at your organization such as a fellowship or summer internship for current or pre-matriculated graduate students
- Join us at the annual GradFUTURES Forum professional development conference open to all graduate alumni!
- Virtually host graduate students at your organization for an Industry Exploration Day or shadowing experience
- Create a profile on our site to share a few words of advice and encourage graduate students along their journey.
Interested in getting involved? Please reach out via email (gradfutures@princeton.edu) or by complete the short form at the bottom of this page!
Graduate Alumni: Connect with us!
Graduate Alumni Profiles
Diya Abdeljabbar is the Director of Technical Operations at the Merck & Company vaccine manufacturing site in Durham, NC. The scope of his current role includes technology transfer, validation, and commercialization of a manufacturing process to produce Merck’s nonavalent human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccine. This role involves building a…
The inaugural keynote speaker for the GradFUTURES Star Lessons in Leadership series, B. Ben Baldanza *86, a Princeton School of Public and International Affairs alumnus, was the CEO of Spirit Airlines from 2005-2016. He is currently is Chief Executive Officer of Diemacher, LLC.
Award-winning author, educator, and entrepreneur Carol Barash holds degrees from Yale (BA, summa cum laude), UVA (MA), and Princeton (Ph.D.) and has spent 20+ years innovating EdTech.
Dr. Udit Batra is a strong champion for graduate student professional development and of experiential programs. He recognized the importance of internship experience for Ph.D.s, but noted that the demands of doctoral training often make it challenging for graduate students to take part in these experiences. In 2020, while serving as CEO of…
"I would recommend this program to any Princeton graduate student, and they will gain a lot by participating in it."
"Organizing the first Grad Student Career Meetup helped me to start picturing myself doing other things, and now I am happily managing academics at a creative media school in Paris."
Kristin Bietsch finished her PhD in Demography at Princeton’s Office of Population Research in 2015. She moved to Washington D.C. where she spent 2 years working as a Research Associate at the Population Reference Bureau. She has worked at Avenir Health for the last 3 years conducting research on fertility and family planning in developing countries. Prior to COVID-19 she travelled extensively conducting trainings at Ministries of Health in Asia and Africa. She lives in Connecticut with her spouse (who she met while in graduate school), their 9-month-old daughter, and dog.