Students, Faculty and Alumni/ae Stories

Student, Faculty and Alumni/ae Perspectives on GradFUTURES

These stories and commentaries illuminate the journeys of graduate students who have participated in GradFUTURES programming, and render visible the campus-wide community of support available for graduate students-- from faculty, staff, and alumni as well as industry partners.

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Diya Abdeljabbar, *12 (CBE)

Director of Technical Operations, Merck

Diya Abdeljabbar is the Director of Technical Operations at the Merck & Company vaccine manufacturing site in Durham, NC. The scope of his…

Avery Agles, GS, CBE

University Administrative Fellow

"My experience has totally transformed my idea of academia into a place where meaningful change and empowerment can happen."

Jonathan Aguirre, GS, SPO

Professional Development Working Group Member

"I've been most appreciative of the stimulating conversations that have motivated me to pursue research topics I would have never otherwise considered."

Genevieve Allotey-Pappoe, GS, MUS

University Administrative Fellow

"The GradFutures program is a great initiative for the professional development of graduate students at Princeton."

Emilia Arguello, GS, CHM

Community College Teaching Fellow

"I am excited to participate in this fellowship to experience the personal connections – both as a mentee and as a mentor – that only a genuine teaching setting can offer.”

Alana Ballantyne *13 (GER)

"Stepping outside my comfort zone as an academic was really scary at first, but I'm really pleased that I pushed myself."

Carol Barash *89 (ENG)

GradFUTURES Forum Speaker

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.

Udit Batra, *96 (CBE)

President and CEO, Waters Corporation

Dr. Udit Batra earned a Ph.D. in Chemical and Biological Engineering from Princeton.

As President and CEO of Waters Corporation, Dr…

Wendy Laura Belcher

Professor of Comparative Literature and African American Studies

"Fortunately, the graduate student professional development program at Princeton University provides training in just these types of skills and thus is an essential part of graduate student success now and in the future."

André Benhaïm

Associate Professor

"The leadership and opportunities promoted by GradFutures provide students with invaluable practical tools that will help them magnify their professional potential."

Natalie Berkman, *18 (FIT)

University Administrative Fellow

"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."

Marshall Brown

Director, Princeton Urban Imagination Center

Marshall Brown is an architect, urbanist, and scholar. Among other accomplishments, he has represented the United States at the prestigious…

Zoë Buonaiuto, *18 (HIS)

University Administrative Fellow

"Participating in the UAF program was one of the most formative experiences I had at Princeton. The program provided me important mentorship, a supportive community, and lasting connections that expanded my vision of what I could do post-PhD."

Alfonso Cebreros, *15 (ECO)

Manager of Real Sector Research, Banco de México

I received my Ph.D. in Economics from Princeton University in 2015. Since then I have been at the General Directorate of Economic Research at…

Flora Champy

Assistant Professor

Flora Champy joined the Department of French and Italian as an Assistant Professor of French in September 2018. She holds a dual PhD in French…

Caitlin Charos, *19, ENG

University Administrative Fellow

"As a UAF, I found the structure, skill-building, and community I was looking for to make my graduate school experience more intentional. I highly recommend the program not only to those seeking to acquire job skills but also for those on campus searching for a greater sense of purpose and voice in the university."

Dane Christie, *19, CBE

"If you cannot convince people of the merit of your ideas in language they can understand, you are not going anywhere, since it is impossible to solve any meaningful problems by yourself."

Maayan Dauber, *15, ENG

I received my PhD in English from Princeton in 2015 after which I started working in the arts. I'm currently the Executive Director of the Eastern…

Julian Dierkes, *03, SOC

Associate Dean, University of British Columbia

After Princeton and a Post-Doc, I've been teaching at the University of British Columbia since 2002. From a theory-driven focus on sociology, I…

Clarissa Ding, GS, CHE

Professional Development Working Group Member

Clarissa Ding is a PhD…

Sophal Ear, *97, SPIA

Associate Professor of Diplomacy and World Affairs, Occidental College

Re-elected to the…

Anna Eddelbuettel Hancock, GS, CBE

I graduated in May 2020 with my B.S. in biomedical engineering from Washington University in St. Louis. I spent the summer after my graduation…

Alicia M. Ejsmond-Frey, *19, CLA

GradFUTURES Summer Fellow, Open Innovation Team, Cabinet Office (London, UK)

"My department was surprised but delighted to find out that I was going to pursue a career in government, and in his introduction to my FPO the director of graduate studies said I was a good example of the various doors that a PhD opens other than the obvious one into academia."

Saadia El Karfi, GS, FIT

University Administrative Fellow

As a UAF "I get to work on issues and topics that are meaningful to me as an international student, as a woman, and as an academic."

Ma. Florevel (Floe) Fusin-Wischusen

“Partnering with the Graduate School in promoting our Education, Training and Outreach program has significantly raised awareness and increased participation from graduate students across campus.”

William A. Gleason

Hughes-Rogers Professor of English and American Studies;

"It's exciting to see how many new initiatives and opportunities for graduate student professional development are emerging here on campus, in communication, teaching, leadership, wellness, career management, and other crucial areas."

Jenny Greene

Professor of Astrophysical Sciences

"PTI supports our students not only by creating a strong community of like-minded people across the University, but also by providing a substantive teaching experience for our students."

Lindsay Griffiths, GS, ENG

University Administrative Fellow

"So far, my experience with GradFUTURES has been nothing short of lovely, and I look forward to future engagement."

Hasan Hameed, GS, HIS

University Administrative Fellow

"I've gotten to interact with people in departments as diverse as Professional Development and the Office of Undergraduate Student Life, giving me a much more nuanced sense of the complexity of the University and the range of different departments involved in serving the student community"

Drew Harker, *81, SPIA

Mentor, GradFUTURES Mentorship Program

After graduating from SPIA…

Jiayue (Jenny) He, *08, ELE

"Emotional resilience is essential for a founder. One of my undergrad professors told me, “Once you are in a Ph.D. program, it is all about the emotional resilience to fail many times before you succeed.” His words rang very true in my Ph.D. career, and the same is true of being a founder — a role that requires persistence and resilience in the face of endless challenges."

Jake Herb, *17, CHE

University Administrative Fellow Alumni/ae

Jake Herb is a Principal Scientist in the Materials and Energy Technology Group at Physical Sciences, Inc. (PSI). PSI specializes in…

Julio Herrera Estrada, *17, CEE

Applied Scientist, Descartes Labs

I am an Applied Scientist at Descartes Labs, a startup that develops software for geospatial data analyses and related solutions for businesses…

Ken Igarza, GS, NEU

Ken Igarza is an NSF-GRFP fellow in Dr. Annegret Falkner's laboratory at the Princeton Neuroscience Institute (PNI), having previously studied and…

Nicole Jacoberger

Mentor, Community College Teaching Fellowship Program

Nicole Jacoberger is a…

Patrice Jean, *99, MOL

Star Lessons in Leadership Keynote Speaker

During graduate school, I honed my skills as a scientist, but I also learned how important it was to engage with all people from different disciplines, places, lifestyles and cultures.

Sophie Jiang, GS, ARC

Professional Development Associate

The "UAF experience has deepened my understanding of multidisciplinary and multicultural communication."

Stanley N. Katz

Professor of Public and International Affairs;

"The Higher Education Workshop has been a boon for me as a scholar-teacher with a long commitment to the study of higher education policy."

Don Kirsch, *78, MOL

Facilitator, Drug Discovery GradFUTURES Learning Cohort

"The Dean’s office is supportive and helpful to those who want to pursue diverse careers in industry. In fact, Princeton invited me back to lead a learning cohort of Princeton graduate students on the topic of drug discovery!"

Ann Kirschner, *78, ENG

GradFUTURES Forum Keynote Speaker

Ann Kirschner is University Professor at The City University of New York, the nation's largest urban university, and a faculty fellow at the…

Josh Kotin

Associate Professor, Department of English

"The workshop is an important forum for exploring graduate student professional development in the twenty-first century."

Robbie LeDesma, GS, MOL

Research on the Road Participant

“Research on the Road” is a fantastic science communication/public speaking event that taught me a lot about how to think about my own work when presenting to a broad audience."

Victoria Luu, GS, GEO

University Administrative Fellow Alumni/ae

"This experience in creating bridges across different stakeholders and developing systematic solutions helped me to secure a prestigious marine policy fellowship in D.C., where I can continue building upon the skills I started developing in my UAF!"

Elena M'Bouroukounda, GS, ARC

University Administrative Fellow

"Through this fellowship, I have gained a new perspective on how administrators can be mediators between academics and segmented academic departments and progressive pedagogical practice."

Christos Maravelias

Christos Maravelias is the Anderson Family Professor in the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment and the Department of Chemical and…

Elizabeth Margulis

Director, Music Cognition Lab

Elizabeth Margulis studies music using a combination of humanistic and scientific methods. Her book On Repeat: How Music Plays the Mind (Oxford…

Meredith Martin

Faculty Director, Center for Digital Humanities

Meredith Martin is Associate Professor of English and the Faculty Director for the Center for Digital Humanities. She works on the history of…

Erika Milam

Professor of History

"The Graduate School's Professional Development Program provides guidance to help students develop the skills and competencies crucial for success in completing their degrees and across the range of possible careers."

Mallory Monaco Caterine, *13 (CLA)

Mallory Monaco Caterine *13, Classics, Co-Founder and Executive Director at Kallion Leadership, Inc., Senior Professor of Practice in…

Christin Monroe, *18, CHM

University Administrative Fellow

"I was able to gain so much practical experience and learn about career paths that I was unfamiliar with, which led to my first job after graduate school as the science specialist for an Upward Bound program."