Luke Owings ’07
His time at Princeton offered Luke Owings ’07 more activity than he ever expected. “I was almost overwhelmed with the diversity of opportunities and the freedom to study anything,” he says. “I had to learn to balance my interests,” and it was in that balance that he discovered where his passions lie.
As a freshman, Owings dabbled in engineering and psychology, but after enrolling in an economics course, any other path became second-best. Intrigued by how it taught him to think, he made economics his major. Under the mentorship of professors Gene Grossman and Avinash Dixit, he focused on game theory, the study of decision-making processes in competitive situations.
Game theory, in turn, affected how Owings performed on the basketball court by changing the way he looked at the game. “Nothing is an isolated event,” he points out. “I’ve learned to think about basketball, and life, from many perspectives. It’s a new spin on personal decision making.”
Owings says Princeton’s diverse student body also impacted his studies, by showing him that rationality manifests itself in surprising ways. “It [rationality] merely means pursuing whatever one values, and there are no limits to what that can be. You must understand a person before you can understand their actions.”
As a member of the Varsity Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, Owings took a particular interest in discovering what his fellow athletes were passionate about. The most tangible result is the charity he co-founded with his friend and classmate, Freddy Flaxman ’07. The program organizes opportunities for Princeton’s athletics teams to donate their time. It then coordinates their actions to make an impact on the nearby community with the proceeds. Further, it draws on Princeton’s expansive alumni network, strengthening the relationship between Princeton athletics and the town.
As a freshman, Owings dabbled in engineering and psychology, but after enrolling in an economics course, any other path became second-best. Intrigued by how it taught him to think, he made economics his major. Under the mentorship of professors Gene Grossman and Avinash Dixit, he focused on game theory, the study of decision-making processes in competitive situations.
Game theory, in turn, affected how Owings performed on the basketball court by changing the way he looked at the game. “Nothing is an isolated event,” he points out. “I’ve learned to think about basketball, and life, from many perspectives. It’s a new spin on personal decision making.”
Owings says Princeton’s diverse student body also impacted his studies, by showing him that rationality manifests itself in surprising ways. “It [rationality] merely means pursuing whatever one values, and there are no limits to what that can be. You must understand a person before you can understand their actions.”
As a member of the Varsity Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, Owings took a particular interest in discovering what his fellow athletes were passionate about. The most tangible result is the charity he co-founded with his friend and classmate, Freddy Flaxman ’07. The program organizes opportunities for Princeton’s athletics teams to donate their time. It then coordinates their actions to make an impact on the nearby community with the proceeds. Further, it draws on Princeton’s expansive alumni network, strengthening the relationship between Princeton athletics and the town.