Thomas Laboratory
3

Sponsored by the Alumni Association of Princeton University

Moderator

Kate Coppola
Director of Career Advising and Partnerships, Center for Career Development

Panelists

Abbie Birmingham ’74
Artist

Lauren Taslitz ’79
Librettist/Lyricist

Timothy C. Wu ’84
Executive Director, The Battery Powered Foundation

Daniel Gadala-Maria ’09
Head Brewer, Finback Brewery

Moderator

Kate Coppola
Director of Career Advising and Partnerships, Center for Career Development

Kate Coppola has a Bachelor of Arts in psychology from the University of California, Berkeley and a Master of Arts in career counseling from Wake Forest University. She spent seven years leading career and leadership development programs for Teach For America corps members and alumni as the managing director of their Career and Leadership Center. Coppola also served as an associate director for the Wasserman Center for Career Development at New York University and as an instructor for career counseling courses at Wake Forest. For the last eight years, she has led career advising and strategic efforts for Princeton undergraduates. Coppola’s professional experience demonstrates that career paths are not linear; her previous roles include teaching Spanish bilingual first grade, supervising warehouse operations at an industrial supply company and interning with “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.”

Panelists

Abbie Birmingham ’74
Artist

Abbie Birmingham is a printmaker, mixed media and book artist from Seattle, Washington. She graduated from the Princeton School of Architecture and (after a brief detour through Wyoming and Idaho) practiced construction and real estate law in the Seattle area, in private practice and as general counsel for a regional developer. She began her art practice by taking classes in printmaking at Pratt Fine Arts in Seattle and is now a full-time artist, showing her work at regional, national and international galleries. Birmingham’s ongoing interest in architecture and the built environment can be seen in her imagery, which often references Seattle architecture and street grids. Her work is in private and public collections. She’s represented by Columbia City Gallery in Seattle. Her website is abirminghamprints.com and her Instagram handle is @abbie.paper.

Lauren Taslitz ’79
Librettist/Lyricist

Lauren Taslitz is a librettist, lyricist, producer, teaching artist, partner, mother, sister and grandmother working to bring the voice of mature womanhood to the musical theater table. Musicals in development include “The Girl Who Cried Different,” with composer Tommy Barbarella, former keyboardist with Prince, and “Mimosa,” a family-friendly show featuring a plant as the protagonist. Taslitz is the 2020 Robert and Stephanie Olmsted MacDowell Fellow. In 2022, Taslitz executive produced the “Regretting Almost Everything” concept album for her musical about love, sex and kids. Taslitz works regularly with friend and mentor William Finn (“Falsettos,” “Putnam County Spelling Bee”) as a producer and co-teacher. Taslitz is a founding member of HomeBrewed Collective, a voting member of both the Recording Academy and The Drama League, and a member of Maestra and the Dramatists Guild. She has a J.D. from Harvard and an MFA in Musical Theatre Writing from NYU Tisch.

Tim Wu ’84
Executive Director, The Battery Powered Foundation

Timothy Wu has extensive experience in the philanthropic/nonprofit sectors as a grantmaker, fundraiser and volunteer. Trained as a lawyer and a journalist, Wu has held leadership roles in organizations addressing disaster relief, environment/conservation, technology and social justice. His highest profile grantmaking experience was as deputy director of the September 11th Fund, which distributed $530 million to 9/11 terrorist attack victims. Wu’s volunteer board service includes arts, health, education, media and philanthropy. Wu was the youngest person and first Asian American elected to Princeton’s Board of Trustees and currently sits on the boards of College Track, Tectonic Theater Project, Save the Chimps and the San Francisco Ballet. He earned his J.D., cum laude, from Harvard Law School and his A.B. in politics, summa cum laude. He received Project Open Hand’s volunteer of the year award and the American Foundation for Aids Research (amfAR) National Award of Courage.

Daniel Gadala-Maria ’09
Head Brewer, Finback Brewery

Daniel Gadala-Maria oversees production of some of the top-rated beer in the U.S. as the head brewer at Finback Brewery. He first became interested in beer at Princeton and had side jobs bartending until transitioning into professional brewing nine years after graduation. Prior to this shift, Gadala-Maria earned a Ph.D. in computational biology from Yale and had been pursuing an academia-track career. He leveraged his scientific background to advance quickly in the beer industry, earning the role of head brewer within four years. Today, he uses his knowledge of biology, programming and statistics to continually improve products and workflows.