Princeton University Names First Black Valedictorian in 274-Year History

Princeton University has announced Nicholas Johnson, a student who majored in operations research and financial engineering, as the school’s first black valedictorian in its 274-year history. Johnson is also pursuing certificates in statistics and machine learning, applied and computational mathematics, and applications of computing. 

Johnson, a Montreal native, will spend the summer interning at the D.E. Shaw Group as a hybrid quantitative researcher and software developer before going to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the fall where he will begin his Ph. D studies in operations research. 

“Being Princeton’s first black valedictorian is very empowering, especially given its historical ties to the institution of slavery,” Johnson said, per the New York Times.

Looking back at all the memories he made while attending Princeton, which included the international internships and cultural immersion trips to Peru, Hong Kong, and the United Kingdom that he considered to be especially significant, Johnson said that his fondest moments came from the stimulating conversations he had with his close friends and classmates. 

“My favorite memories of my time at Princeton are memories of time spent with close friends and classmates engaging in stimulating discussions — often late at night — about our beliefs, the cultures and environments in which we were raised, the state of the world, and how we plan on contributing positively to it in our own unique way,” Johnson said.