My favorite Princeton professor

Let me tell you about the Larry DuPraz School of Journalism, a.k.a. The Daily Princetonian. There was no grade inflation at the DuPraz School of Journalism. The standards were consistent, unwavering over the six decades that Larry provided our “adult supervision.” He always measured you against the best editors and writers in the Princetonian’s modern history. Larry was the keeper of those quality standards, and we worked hard to earn his begrudging respect. Larry’s respect and admiration were more important to me than the “A” grade I received on my senior thesis.

While his standards and his flat-top crew cut never changed, Larry was a remarkably adaptive individual. He led the student editors through a series of difficult technology transitions. The biggest transition, however, was Princeton: from the all-male homogeneity of the 1950s and 1960s to the coeducational, multi-racial Princeton of the latter decades of the century. The Larry Dupraz fan club is as diverse as Princeton itself. Why? Because Larry treated every staff member as an individual, a person who had an opportunity to make a contribution.

So, what did we learn at the Dupraz School? We learned how to organize our ideas, manage our time, communicate and produce under the pressure of a daily deadline. Sounds like a pretty good education to me.

Thank you, Larry, my favorite Princeton professor.

— Peter Seldin '76, sports editor emeritus