Reflections on Service
Traditionally held during freshman orientation week, the goal of Reflections on Service is to inspire incoming students to participate in a dynamic range of civic engagement activities both on and off campus, working with communities in Princeton and around the world.
Princeton Professor Gregory van der Vink GS *83, provided the 2012 keynote address, followed by a panel of four undergraduates who spoke about their service and engagement experiences at Princeton. Student speakers included Radha Sarkar ’14, David Newill-Smith ’14, Meg Partridge ’14, and Zach Beecher ’13. The program closed with an outdoor ice cream reception where freshmen had the opportunity to mingle with other students and representatives of Pace-sponsored groups.
Gregory van der Vink is the founder and CEO of Terrametrics LLC, a firm specializing in poverty reduction, conflict mitigation, and environmentally-sustainable economic development. Van der Vink was named Princeton's 250th Anniversary Visiting Professor for Distinguished Teaching in 2000-01 and was awarded the Engineering Council's Excellence in Teaching Award in 2004. He received his Ph.D. in Geosciences from Princeton University. He has been a National Research Council Postdoctoral Fellow, a Congressional Science Fellow, and an International Affairs Fellow of the Council on Foreign Relations. He has pioneered environmental entrepreneurship and projects using science to encourage economic development and fight poverty in Africa and other regions of the world.
Past keynote speakers include Shanta Devarajan ’84, Chief Economist of the World Bank Africa Region; George Will GS *68, Pulitzer Prize-winning political commentator; Stuart Rabner ’82, Chief Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court; Wendy Kopp ’89, founder and CEO of Teach for America; and Justin Rockefeller ’02, founder of Generation Engage.
Sponsors of Reflections on Service are the Pace Center for Civic Engagement, the Pace Council for Civil Values (PCCV), the Office of the Dean of Undergraduate Students (ODUS), and Halo Farm in Trenton, NJ.
Princeton Professor Gregory van der Vink GS *83, provided the 2012 keynote address, followed by a panel of four undergraduates who spoke about their service and engagement experiences at Princeton. Student speakers included Radha Sarkar ’14, David Newill-Smith ’14, Meg Partridge ’14, and Zach Beecher ’13. The program closed with an outdoor ice cream reception where freshmen had the opportunity to mingle with other students and representatives of Pace-sponsored groups.
Gregory van der Vink is the founder and CEO of Terrametrics LLC, a firm specializing in poverty reduction, conflict mitigation, and environmentally-sustainable economic development. Van der Vink was named Princeton's 250th Anniversary Visiting Professor for Distinguished Teaching in 2000-01 and was awarded the Engineering Council's Excellence in Teaching Award in 2004. He received his Ph.D. in Geosciences from Princeton University. He has been a National Research Council Postdoctoral Fellow, a Congressional Science Fellow, and an International Affairs Fellow of the Council on Foreign Relations. He has pioneered environmental entrepreneurship and projects using science to encourage economic development and fight poverty in Africa and other regions of the world.
Past keynote speakers include Shanta Devarajan ’84, Chief Economist of the World Bank Africa Region; George Will GS *68, Pulitzer Prize-winning political commentator; Stuart Rabner ’82, Chief Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court; Wendy Kopp ’89, founder and CEO of Teach for America; and Justin Rockefeller ’02, founder of Generation Engage.
Sponsors of Reflections on Service are the Pace Center for Civic Engagement, the Pace Council for Civil Values (PCCV), the Office of the Dean of Undergraduate Students (ODUS), and Halo Farm in Trenton, NJ.