Princeton’s First Black Valedictorian Delivers Virtual Commencement Speech

Nicholas Johnson, 22 is the first Black valedictorian since Princeton became an institution in 1746. Johnson is graduating with a degree in operations research and financial engineering.

His speech was delivered on Sunday, May 31 via a pre-recorded video from his home in Montreal. In it, he quoted Michelle Obama, urging his classmates to keep their feet rooted in reality but pointed in the direction of progress.

Johnson hopes to inspire younger Black students who are interested in fields of science engineering, technology and math. His senior thesis included research on algorithms that could help correct Canada’s obesity epidemic.

Johnson will be interning as a hybrid quantitive researcher and software developer at the D.E. Shaw group in New York this summer. Afterwards, he plans on pursuing his PhD in operations research at M.I.T. next fall.

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