Noor to speak at princeton U.

The Daily Princetonian PRINCETON, N.J. -- Queen Noor of Jordan -- formerly Lisa Halaby, Princeton class of 1973 -- will be the speaker at this year's Baccalaureate, the year-ending chapel service for the senior class, the university announced Sunday. Queen Noor, a member of the university's first coeducational class, graduated with a degree in architecture and urban planning. While working on international urban planning projects, her involvement in the design of an aviation training school brought her to Jordan, where she met King Hussein. The two were married in 1978. Since then, Queen Noor has helped promote Arab-Western relations as well as an international understanding of Middle Eastern politics. She also has performed humanitarian work in the areas of disarmament, women and children's welfare, community development, education, human rights, culture and public architecture and planning. The announcement signaled the end of a semester-long process that included an open discussion forum for members of the Class of 2000 and administrators, as well as a Web-based submission form for nominations. The forum and submission process established three finalists: Meg Whitman '77, president and CEO of eBay; Wendy Kopp '89, founder of Teach for America, and Queen Noor. Once these candidates were announced on the Web, a class-wide vote showed Queen Noor to be the favorite speaker of the senior class by a large margin. Vice President and Secretary Tom Wright said that scheduling difficulties prevented Queen Noor from committing to the event immediately. "She's an enthusiastic alum, and I don't think there was any question that she wanted to try to fit this in if she could," he said. Senior Class President Robert Anolik said he was thrilled the University was able to get his class's first choice. "Beyond the inherent excitement of her celebrity, she has been a global humanitarian and represents Princeton's motto well because she has been in the service of all nations," he said. "I'm glad we were able to bring a female because it appropriately recognizes and celebrates this year as the 30th anniversary of Princeton's admission of women."

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