We’re excited to welcome Pippa Jack, the new editor of Yale Alumni Magazine, to Yale. To get to know her a bit better, we’ve asked her five questions. Take a read to learn what she does in her free time and what she’s reading.
What excites you the most about joining the Yale Alumni Magazine as editor?
There are almost too many ways I could answer this, but right now, I’m really driven by my curiosity about Yale itself. This role gives me the ultimate excuse to dive into all things Yale, from its history to its buildings to its famous alumni, and to start getting to know an institution that has been at the center of so much that is good in the world. It’s a project that I know could last a lifetime, and I love that I’m starting it just as the new academic year gets going, in the crisp sunshine of New Haven in September.
Is there a story from your previous jobs that you’re particularly proud of?
That’s a tough one – like most editors, my favorite story is usually the one I’m working on now (and the next issue of the Yale Alumni Magazine has some really great ones in the lineup, especially — spoiler alert! — for Mark Twain fans!). But if I wind the clock back a few months, I commissioned a story for the Brown Alumni Magazine on the history of U.S. research funding and how it was we came to the current system of federally sponsored, competitive grants. The issue itself won’t come out until later this month, but I’ve found myself returning to the story in my files several times lately as I try to understand the headlines. I also keep coming back to a story I was working on a year ago, as I was working with Brown seniors to plan the first student-edited issue of that magazine. Our student interns wanted to explore the drivers behind the changes they were seeing on campus, including a surge of new student organizations aimed at career prep and networking in industries such as finance. Out of that was born a feature story that explores the tension between liberal arts and proprofessionalism on today’s college campuses, and how the rising cost of college, along with an uncertain job market, has changed the reasons why students even say they go to college in the first place. That’s much on my mind as I pass students rushing by on Prospect. What do they dream of? What is ahead of them?
Have you read a story or book lately that you enjoyed?
I’m still in summer beach-reading mode, so I’m ripping through the latest installment in Robert Galbraith’s Cormoron Strike detective novels – Rowling’s cozy character development skills are just as satisfying here as in the Harry Potter series. Next up will be either James by Percival Everett or something from this fun list of Yale-associated novels.
When you’re not working, what do you like to do?
I love to spend time with my kids, dogs, and husband, preferably at the beach. I also fell in love with pottery as a teenager and will slope off to my studio, aka the garden shed, at odd hours to make small, useful objects.
What would the Yale community be surprised to learn about you?
I once, with zero experience, managed to get hired as crew on a 48-foot racing sloop after beating the captain at pool.
