Back when Frederick P. Hitz '61 was a Princeton undergraduate, the relationship between the university and the CIA was rather cozy. As Hitz recalls it, Dean of Students Bill Lippincott '41 was -- in the euphemism of the time -- a "faculty resource," briefing selected juniors on the idea of joining the intelligence community.

The hands-on approach changed radically after the protests of the Vietnam era, but now the pendulum is swinging back again. Hitz -- a longtime CIA man who's currently the agency's inspector general, meaning he investigates its internal controversies -- has been tapped by the Woodrow Wilson School. Early plans include an undergraduate course on the future of intelligence.

"There was some concern that having somebody from the CIA on the faculty might be provocative, but fortunately there was a recognition that the times had changed," Hitz says.

As the first CIA inspector general since the 1950s, Hitz received much attention for his investigation into the Aldrich Ames spy case, which involved 17 of his staff over the course of a year. (Though the total number of employees in the inspector general's office remains classified, Hitz said he expanded the staff to three times what it had been when he came aboard.) His job was created by Congress in the wake of concerns over the Iran-Contra affair. That impetus, plus regular congressional oversight, gave Hitz "a certain measure of independence from the party line," he says.

At Princeton -- where his father, Frederick '27, and uncle, William '31, had preceded him -- Hitz majored in history and was active in Whig-Clio. After teaching law in Nigeria on a Ford Foundation grant, he joined the CIA in 1967, serving in various positions, including an African posting, until 1973. He later held posts in the departments of State, Defense, and Energy, and the White House before returning to the CIA. In 1990 he was named inspector general by President Bush.

Hitz himself has attracted controversy. He was under investigation by the President's Council on Integrity and Efficiency, which examined his office's 1991 inquiry into Janine Brookner, a former CIA station chief who received a $400,000 settlement for alleged sex discrimination and for a disinformation campaign that Brookner blames in part on Hitz. The investigation, which wrapped up in December, found flaws in his office's procedures. Even before the report emerged, Hitz said his office had taken steps to improve them.

Hitz said the issue "did not come up with" Wilson School dean Michael Rothschild when discussing his job offer. In an interview, Rothschild said that "the faculty is well aware that he has dealt with many controversial matters and that not everybody loves the way in which he has dealt with them."

Rothschild added that the school was interested in Hitz for two reasons. One is that he has "seen at the very highest level what the agency has and hasn't done well. If anybody has the ability and experience to really seriously examine the problems with American intelligence, it's Fred. Second, as a public-policy school, we continually face a problem about teaching management, and the CIA has to be an interesting case."

-- Louis Jacobson '92

Ernest Tollerson '74 opines at The New York Times
Joining the paper's editorial board gives him an opportunity to write about policy

When government leaders meet to discuss how they will vote on the important issues of the day, the law ensures that those discussions are largely in public. The same cannot be said for The New York Times, as important as the Gray Lady's opinions may be in shaping those discussions. Ernest Tollerson '74 joined the Times's editorial board last September. But there are certain things about his job Tollerson doesn't, or isn't allowed, to share, partly because he's new on the job, and very possibly because the paper discourages it.

What Tollerson will share is that the board meets three times a week for a lively discussion of the day's hot issues. When the discussion is concluded, it's up to editorial-page editor Howell Raines to decide who has the most persuasive argument and who will write the editorials. On many issues, Tollerson says, the board members reach a consensus; but on occasion, the debate is more polarized. "The deliberations of the board help to craft a sharper, more persuasive argument," he says.

The board has a good number of journalists and academics, but Tollerson won't get more specific in describing their backgrounds, only allowing that some editorial board members have specialized knowledge. His reluctance to divulge details also left unconfirmed how many editorials he writes in a week, how many people are on the board, and what time in the morning the group meets.

The reason for all the cloak-and-dagger, of course, is that the Times doesn't want to clue people in on who writes its unsigned editorials. It might make it seem as if they were colored by the writers' personal biases, rather than the collective judgment of the board. "You want to take positions that are balanced, rational, that will help the nation move in the right direction," he says. "You want to live in a better world, corny as it sounds, and you want to help and not impede it."

The Times's editorial page may be the most important in the nation. But Tollerson doesn't speculate on whether Bill Clinton ingests the editorials along with his cornflakes in the morning, or whether any of the editorials influence how top leaders act. Tollerson doesn't gloat about his paper's importance, and he says that he writes for the average reader as much as for those in power. And in New York, of course, every cab driver is a self-appointed world leader. "In New York, where people pride themselves about having opinions about just about everything, they like to compare their opinions to what the newspapers are saying."

What is clear from talking to Tollerson is that he lives and breathes policy; when he calls himself an "amateur policy wonk," that's only the half of it. Tollerson is actually a pathbreaking African-American; he went to Princeton and entered journalism at a time when it was rare for someone of his race to do either. But his ethnicity only came up at the end of a second phone interview. Mined for personal anecdotes about his experiences, he stumbles a bit. "I'm used to talking about issues," he admits. "I'm not used to talking about myself."

Tollerson, who grew up in Washington, D.C., worked as a jazz disc jockey for Princeton's radio station, WPRB, and was politically active in the African liberation movement. After college he went to Columbia Journalism School. As a reporter for The Wall Street Journal, The Home News of New Jersey, and The Philadelphia Inquirer, he covered politics. He eventually became editorial-page editor at New York Newsday.

Along the way, Tollerson married Katrinka Waller Leefmans, now editor of The Wall Street Journal's Marketplace section. They have two boys, ages 7 and 11, and live in a Lower Manhattan apartment building that used to house newspaper offices. "I initially thought that if you married a journalist and got home later, your spouse would cut you more slack. It doesn't work that way."

As a reporter Tollerson covered the trial of John Lennon's killer and the Metropolitan Opera House murders. As an editorial writer he's focused on topics less sensational but closer to his heart, including the scarcity of supermarket chains in the inner city and reform of New York's antiquated election system.

Real change takes patience, he says. "You may believe in a certain policy or idea and write a well-crafted editorial. But just because the initiative fails doesn't mean it's wrong. An idea you talked about in 1990 may take a couple years before people say it's a good idea."

-- Rick Sine '92

Rick Sine is a reporter for The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Andrea Jung '79, new president of Avon

The numbers tell a remarkable story: Thirty-four years before women could vote, in 1886, they began selling Avon products. Today, 112 years later, Avon has its first woman president and chief operating officer -- Andrea Jung '79. She was appointed to the position in January, 1998. Jung is a member of a very select club: including her, there are now a half-dozen women who are presidents of Fortune 500 companies. Jung's also a pianist, a tennis player, and mother of two.

Jung began her career in retail marketing at Bloomingdale's directly out of Princeton in 1979. "I was fortunate to get into a great training program there," she says. "I had very strong preparation at Princeton -- the discipline, the quality of my peers, the pressure to achieve and to excel, all of these motivated me to do my best."

From Bloomingdale's, Jung moved to other retail chains before joining Avon in 1994 as president of the product marketing group for U.S. operations. "I was involved with repositioning Avon's image," says Jung. Avon is now a global concern and, at $5 billion in annual sales, the largest direct seller in the world. Repositioning is no simple matter for a company that sells through the traditional home-based "Avon Lady" as well as through store fronts in Malaysia, direct mail, the Internet, and workplaces throughout the world.

Women in management

"We're at an exciting crossroads," notes Jung. "We'll always be in direct selling, but we also have to figure out how to make all these other channels work for us in 131 countries around the world. We have something like 2.3 million sales reps from China to the Ukraine! That's a leadership challenge. We'll continue to update our image and our product lines, like any retail company. We face the same kind of forces for change that all retail firms do -- in that way we're typical. But Avon is also an extraordinary company for its focus on women, as customers, managers, and leaders." Avon has more women in management than any other Fortune 500 company -- 86 percent. And with the addition of Jung, four women now sit on the board of directors.

How do you lead a sales force of 2.3 million people, mostly women? "You have to be a great manager," says Jung. "But more than that, leadership primarily calls for motivation and inspiration. You have to have a vision of where the company needs to go. Leadership has to be completely consistent, across all of its constituents -- shareholders, managers, the sales force, the public. You have to be able to balance the needs of customers, workers, and shareholders. Avon is in fashion and beauty marketing. To win at that game, you have to have a combination of instincts and analysis. You have to have a feel for your customers. And you have to understand global marketing. It's a combination of people and business skills."

The company boasts that half of American women have purchased an Avon product in the last year -- and 90 percent have in their lifetime. But there's a whole world out there full of women who have yet to hear the famous phrase, "Avon calling," and that means opportunity for Jung and the rest of the team. Avon may be the only direct seller licensed to operate in Beijing, but its Chinese sales force numbers just 85,000, with 76 branches. Given China's population of more than 600 million women, the company has hardly begun to enter the market. There's lots of work and challenges left for Jung and Avon.

-- Nick Morgan '75

Service Points: Child advocacy

Last December, attorney Melissa Weiler Gerber '90 was awarded a community- service award by the Philadelphia Bar Association for her extensive work on behalf of Philadelphia's children.

Weiler Gerber, who was director of the Student Volunteers Council as an undergraduate, has always felt it important to be involved in the world at the community level. "I've been very fortunate, receiving a high- quality education and having a successful career. I think everyone in that position has an obligation to help others," she says. While attending law school at Georgetown University, she was director of Georgetown Outreach, a volunteer organization on the law- school campus.

In Philadelphia, where she works for Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, her advocacy work includes a case involving two abused and neglected siblings who had to be removed from their mother. "I found appropriate foster care and worked with relatives within the family to ensure that appropriate educational and social services were available," she says.

Aside from her pro bono work, which includes time spent in court and helping poor people navigate the legal system, Weiler Gerber volunteers with Women's Way, a funding organization that focuses on agencies delivering services to women.

Please send information for Service Points to Princeton Alumni Weekly, 194 Nassau Street, Princeton, NJ 08542, attention Lolly O'Brien.