A New Kind Of Tiger

"The people of Princeton are going to have a lot of work to do," remarked University of Michigan Regent Thomas Roach last week. His comment came on hearing that Michigan President Harold Shapiro, renowned for his 15-hour workdays, would succeed William Bowen next January as Princeton's 18th president. An economist by training (Ph.D., Princeton '64) and a genial if demanding manager by reputation, Shapiro, 51, lifted Michigan in seven years from financial crisis to a prosperous institution loaded with new research facilities. Although guarded about an agenda for his new job, Shapiro, who will be Princeton's first Jewish president as well as the first president in 120 years to be chosen from outside its faculty, cites minority enrollment and a richer core curriculum as general concerns. His first task, says Shapiro, is "to listen to students, faculty and alumni." He adds, "I hope I will get wiser as I begin to develop ideas with the faculty and others."