Academic-Athletic Fellow Spotlight – Joseph Michels

The PVC recently spoke with Joseph Michels, Director for Research Initiatives, Princeton Institute for the Science and Technology of Materials, Lecturer in the Princeton Writing Program, and Academic-Athletic Fellow to the men’s and women’s crew teams.

Q. How many years have you served as an Academic-Athletic Fellow?

A. Six years supporting the rowing program.

Q. What is your role with the team?

A. To make myself available for advice on most everything including course selection, time management, choice of major, positions in policy and government, and international study.

Q. Have you traveled with the team?

A. Whenever possible I attend races and travel with the team for a few days of their January training camp in Tampa, Florida.

Q. What is the best part about being an Academic-Athletic Fellow?

A. Getting to know the students

Q. Do you have a fun memory, experience or story about your experiences with the team?

A. My very first experience of Princeton was as a college age student trying to make the US National team. Serving as faculty fellow enables me to give back to the sport, the institution and the many people who have helped me along the way.

Q. What advice would you give student-athletes at Princeton?

A. Make the most of the total Princeton experience – both academically and in sport. Four years goes by quickly!

Upcoming Events

06apr7:30 pm8:45 pmJake McCandless '51 PVC Speaker Series: Jeff Ingold '90 & Ted Price '90Open to the entire Princeton community

Event Details

The Princeton Varsity Club is excited to welcome entertainment executives Jeff Ingold ’90 and Ted Price ’90 back to campus Thursday, April 6th as part of the Jake McCandless ’51 PVC Speaker Series. The event will take place on campus in McCosh Hall Room 10 (map) at 7:30 p.m., and is free and open to the entire Princeton community (note: the event will not be live streamed online).

Jeff Ingold ’90 and Ted Price ’90 were Princeton squash teammates under the late-great Bob Callahan, who have gone on to accomplished careers in the entertainment industry, producing some of the most recognizable television shows and video games in the world. Ingold is currently the Executive Producer for the two-time Emmy Award winning series Ted Lasso, as well as Shrinking and Bad Monkey on Apple TV+; he previously helped produce The Office, Scrubs, 30 Rock and Parks & Rec, among other project and roles. Price is the Founder of Insomniac Games, a leading video game developer than is now a part of Sony’s Playstation Studio. Insomniac has produced the likes of Marvel’s Spider Man, the Ratchet and Clank series and the Spyro the Drago.

Price and Ingold will be joined by Ford Family Director of Athletics, John Mack ’00 for a fun and engaging conversation, touching on their respective experiences and lessons learned as Princeton student-athletes, unique career journeys in the entertainment industry, breakthrough moments and how Princeton prepared them for their professional chapters.

The Jake McCandless ’51 PVC Speaker Series was endowed in the name of J.L. “Jake” McCandless ’51, who coached Princeton to the 1969 Ivy League football championship during the Tigers’ centennial year of football. Click here for a list of past featured speakers.

LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR FEATURED SPEAKERS

Jeff Ingold ’90, is the President of Bill Lawrence’s Doozer Productions at Warner Bros. Television. He just wrapped production on the third season of the two-time Emmy award winning series Ted Lasso, as well as Shrinking (starring Jason Segel and Harrison Ford) and Bad Monkey (starring Vince Vaughn), both for Apple TV+.

Prior to joining Doozer Productions, Ingold was the longtime comedy head at NBC. After rising through the ranks as a current executive on such hit NBC shows as Just Shoot Me, Will & Grace, and Scrubs, Ingold transitioned to the development team where he oversaw The Office. In 2006, Ingold was promoted to the head of NBC comedy under then President, Kevin Reilly. During the rest of his tenure, which included expanded oversight of Universal Television comedies in addition to NBC, Ingold supervised the critically acclaimed series 30 Rock, Parks & Recreation, And Community. When he left in 2011, Ingold’s title was Executive Vice President, NBC and Universal Comedy Series.

Ingold is a graduate of Princeton University (B.A. in History) and the USC Marshall School of Business. He currently resides in Los Angeles with his wife and two children.

Ted Price ’90 is President and Founder of Insomniac Games – a videogame developer with over 500 employees located across US and Canada, working remotely and onsite in its bi-coastal offices. In 2019 Insomniac was acquired by Sony Interactive Entertainment.

Since 1994 Insomniac has created high profile game franchises in the console, VR, AR and mobile spaces. Some of its more popular creations include the Spyro the Dragon series, the Ratchet and Clank series, the Resistance: Fall of Man series, Sunset Overdrive and Marvel’s Spider-Man. Upcoming games include Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 and Marvel’s Wolverine for the PlayStation 5.

Insomniac’s games have sold over 100 million units worldwide since the company’s inception. Insomniac has also won numerous local, state and national workplace awards for its unique culture.

Price’s responsibilities at Insomniac include directing the company’s strategic planning and helping shape its culture as well as contributing to its projects. Price is also the Vice Chairman of the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences. He graduated from Princeton University with a B.A. in English.