For the first time in the higher education institution’s 274-year history, Princeton University named a black valedictorian.
BET reported on Tuesday (June 16) that Canadian-born Nicholas Johnson became the Ivy League school’s first black valedictorian.
During his studies at Princeton, Johnson majored in operations research and financial engineering.
“Johnson is the first black valedictorian in Princeton’s history…[He] plans to spend this summer interning as a hybrid quantitative researcher and software developer at the D. E. Shaw Group before beginning Ph.D. studies in operations research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in fall 2020,” Princeton’s statement reads.
“Being Princeton’s first Black Valedictorian holds special significance to me particularly given Princeton’s historical ties to the institution of slavery.
