‘Many Minds, Many Stripes’ conference sets 2025 date to celebrate Graduate School alumni

Coinciding with the 125th anniversary of the Graduate School next year, “Many Minds, Many Stripes: A Princeton University Conference for Graduate Alumni” has been scheduled for Oct. 9-11, 2025. All Princeton alumni are invited back to campus for the gathering. 

“We are excited to honor our graduate alumni 12 years after the first ‘Many Minds’ conference, especially since there is so much to celebrate,” said Jennifer Caputo, deputy vice president for Alumni Engagement. “In addition to the upcoming 125th anniversary of the Graduate School, 2024 marks the 75th anniversary of the founding of the Association of Princeton Graduate Alumni. This University conference will highlight the legacy of both while looking forward to new ways for our graduate alumni community to engage.” Beginning Oct. 16, focus groups will be hosted in nine cities and virtually to help inform conference programming.

Co-chaired by University Trustee Yan Huo *94 and former trustees Ann Kirschner *78 and Laurence Morse *80, and led by a steering committee of 13 other volunteers, “Many Minds, Many Stripes” will include updates from Graduate School leadership; opportunities to hear from faculty and alumni on topics that reflect the institution’s academic excellence, interdisciplinary approach and the diverse career trajectories of alumni; academic department gatherings; networking; and social activities. 

Rodney Priestley, the Pomeroy and Betty Perry Smith Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering, is now in his third year as dean of the Graduate School. He sees the “Many Minds” conference as the right time for alumni to reengage with Princeton and the Graduate School.

“With our new graduate student residences and research facilities, three new doctoral programs, and commitments to student support, inclusive excellence, mentorship and professional development, Princeton is a place for unparalleled scholarship where graduate students can thrive,” Priestley said. “We hope alumni will come back to campus to reunite with their community of scholars and celebrate the transformational impact of a Princeton graduate education. We also see the conference as an opportunity to express our pride and appreciation for graduate alumni and the legacy they’ve created.” 

Graduate School alumni are invited to participate in the virtual and in-person focus groups to share campus experiences, brainstorm conference topics and offer speaker suggestions to help inform the conference planning. Eleven conversations have been scheduled through December, including gatherings in Chicago, Boston, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., London, New York, Philadelphia and Princeton. 

“As we plan for the conference, we are thinking about community engagement, intellectual exchange and future-building,” Huo said. “We’re designing the event to serve as a platform for alumni to reconnect with Princeton, share their expertise and inspire the next generation of scholars and professionals. We look forward to welcoming distinguished keynote speakers, hosting panel discussions and workshops, and creating opportunities from networking.” 

In the Graduate School’s 125-year history since its founding in 1900, more than 37,000 Princeton students have earned graduate degrees, including 18 alumni who received Nobel Prizes. There are currently more than 30,000 living Graduate School alumni; 19% of them reside internationally. 

“Throughout its history, the Graduate School has produced successive cohorts of leaders who, through their scholarship and career endeavors, have sought to be of service and to make an impact by grappling with some of the world’s most intractable social, economic, political and environmental challenges,” Morse said. “This gathering will provide graduate alumni an extraordinary opportunity to return to Old Nassau to celebrate being a part of this rich legacy.” 

“This milestone offers a unique opportunity to reflect on our distinguished history, but this conference is more than a retrospective,” Kirschner said. “Our engagement as graduate alumni helps ensure that Princeton’s Graduate School remains a global leader in academic excellence, preparing the next generation of leaders, thinkers and innovators to address the complex challenges of our time.” 

Since 2006, Princeton University has sponsored and hosted 13 alumni conferences and one symposium. These gatherings are open to all alumni and are designed to celebrate alumni communities and engage them with the University, faculty and one another. Following the 2025 “Many Minds, Many Stripes” conference, the next planned alumni conference will celebrate Asian American and Asian alumni in 2026. 

A conference website is now live. Information about the conference, including hotel room blocks, will be added as it becomes available.