PA3's Princeton Book Award program, introduced in 2019, honors high school juniors in our region for overall academic excellence and exemplary community service or civic engagement.

The award will be made available at any eligible school selected by a dues-paying member who will confirm the school’s interest and identify a contact there (limit one school per year for regular dues-payers; two for Top Tigers). You might choose your own alma mater or child's high school, or a needy school in our area where talented students are less likely to receive recognition and support.

Award winners, who must be high school juniors, are selected by their schools. PA3 will provide each participating school with a book by a Princeton faculty or alumni author for presentation to the winner toward the end of the school year. 

For PA3 members interested in sponsoring a school in 2023: If you are a dues-paying member of PA3 and would like to nominate a school to participate in the Princeton Book Award program, or if you have questions, please contact Tom Hastings ’79 at thastings79@alumni.princeton.edu by April 15, 2023. You will be asked to confirm the school's interest in participating, and to provide the name and email address of a contact person there. (Not sure if you've paid your dues yet? Click here to check.)

For high schools interested in participating in 2023: If a Princeton alumnus/a offers to sponsor your school for a book award, you need only confirm your interest by April 15, 2023, and provide the name and email address of the staff member who will serve as the contact. You will receive a book by a Princeton faculty or alumni author, including a bookplate with a citation, during the spring. It is up to your school to select your award winner, a junior who will be recognized for "overall academic excellence and exemplary community service or civic engagement." You are free to present the award during your usual year-end award ceremony, or on any other occasion you choose.

Participating Schools, PA3 Sponsors, and Awardees, 2022
Ewing High School (Tom Swift '76)
The Hun School of Princeton (Ugur Koyluoglu *95) - Oliver Li
Montgomery High School (Frank Derby '84) - Diya Pingili
Notre Dame High School (George Bustin '70) - Rani Parikh
Peddie School (Rick Ober '65)
Princeton Day School (Rick Ober '65) - Jai Kasera
Princeton High School (Arlen Hastings '80) - Rowan Gilmore
Stuart Country Day School of the Sacred Heart (Arlen Hastings '80) - Anna Landis
The Wilberforce School (Tamara Garaffa P20 P23) - Abigail Readlinger
Woodbridge High School (George Bustin '70) - Lauren Carter

Winners of the 2022 Book Award received copies of American Urbanist: How William H. Whyte's Unconventional Wisdom Reshaped Public Life, by Richard K. Rein '69.

Participating Schools, PA3 Sponsors, and Awardees, 2021
Ewing High School (George Bustin '70) - Naomi Garcia
Montgomery High School (Frank Derby '84) - Catherine Gonzalez
Notre Dame High School (George Bustin '70) - Raj Parikh
Princeton Day School (Rick Ober '65) - Lily Nyce
Princeton High School (Arlen Hastings '80) - Audrey Peel
Stuart Country Day School of the Sacred Heart (Tamara Garaffa P20 P23) - Zihuizhong (Angelina) Ye
Trenton Central High School (Tom Hastings '79)
The Wilberforce School (Tamara Garaffa P20 P23) - Annie Whitman

Winners of the 2021 Book Award received copies of The Source of Self-Regard, by Professor Toni Morrison.

Participating Schools, PA3 Sponsors, and Awardees, 2020
Ewing High School (George Bustin '70) - Kylie King
Notre Dame High School (George Bustin '70) - Katherine Benjamin
The Wilberforce School (Julia Wilson '11) - Kathryn Tess Willett

Winners of the 2020 Book Award received copies of Information Wars, by Richard Stengel '77.

Participating Schools, PA3 Sponsors, and Awardees, 2019
Ewing High School (George Bustin '70) - Nathalia Davila
Notre Dame High School (George Bustin '70) - Zach Klein
Princeton Day School (Rick Ober '65) - Zayia Gandhi
Princeton High School (Arlen Hastings '80) - Jonathan Lin
The Wilberforce School (Tamara Garaffa P20 P23) - Calvin van Lleuwen

Winners of the 2019 Book Award received copies of Professor Paul Steinhardt's The Second Kind of Impossible.