The Princeton Area Community Foundation has honored Marvin and Ingrid Reed with the 2018 Leslie “Bud” Vivian Award for Community Service.

The annual award was created in honor of the late Leslie “Bud” Vivian. He served as the longtime Director of Community and Regional Affairs at Princeton University and was committed to the Princeton community. Established in 1995 by members of the Princeton University’s Class of 1942 and 16 local organizations, the award is made possible through the Vivian Memorial Fund, an endowed fund of the Princeton Area Community Foundation.

“Marvin and Ingrid Reed spent decades serving the Princeton region and New Jersey,” said Jeffrey M. Vega, the President & CEO of the Princeton Area Community Foundation. “Their service to our communities has made our region a better place to live.”

Ingrid Reed said she knew Vivian and “admired his tireless enthusiasm for community endeavors and his amazing ability to get things done.”

“We thank his friends and admirers for establishing this award at the Princeton Area Community Foundation where his example stays alive to recognize countless others who will be as surprised as we were by the award – and the opportunity to provide some financial support to causes we care about,” she said.

The Reeds, who have been married for 59 years, are the first couple to receive the award.

“While we are a team at home, we each enjoyed volunteering in our own way,” Marvin Reed said. “In our public lives, we engaged in activities that captured our interests. …I concentrated on the borough and then the town, while Ingrid gave her attention also to Trenton and New Jersey more broadly.”

Ingrid Reed

  • Ingrid served as co-chair of the 1979 effort at consolidating Princeton Borough and Township, and as Chair of the Capital City Redevelopment Corporation. She also served on the boards of the League of Women Voters, the Princeton Adult School, and the Princeton Symphony. She was a founding member of the Community Foundation’s Fund for Women and Girls. She is a founder and Board Chair of NJ Spotlight and a board member of WomenSpace. She also does work with the Princeton Public Library, including hosting an election night event.
  • From 1996 to 2010, she directed the NJ Project at Rutgers University’s Eagleton Institute of Politics. At Eagleton, she also chaired the Governor’s Task Force on Local Government Ethics. She previously worked at The Rockefeller University in New York City and the Woodrow Wilson School of Public & International Affairs at Princeton University.

Marvin Reed

  • Marvin Reed served as the mayor of Princeton Borough from 1990 to 2003, after serving six years as a councilman. During his tenure as mayor, he oversaw the Hinds Plaza Redevelopment project, which included an addition to the public library, affordable apartments and a parking garage. While much of this development may be considered standard today, at the time, it was part of a new, emerging smart growth movement.
  • He also chaired Downtown New Jersey in the late 1990s, and served on the state’s LURC (Local Unit Alignment, Reorganization and Consolidation) Commission. During his tenure in local government, he was instrumental in creating the Princeton Arts Council.

The couple has two adult children, David and Liza, and four grandchildren.

The Vivian award comes with a small grant that is distributed to organizations suggested by the honorees. The Reeds have chosen the Princeton Public Library, the Princeton Arts Council and the Paul Robeson House to receive the grants.

Previous winners of Vivian Award include Carol Golden, Bill Wakefield, the Rev. David McAlpin, Marcy Crimmins, A. C. Reeves Hicks, Hank Pannell, Jocelyn Helm, Harry Levine, Ted Vial, Harriet Bryan, Pat Van Ness, Claire Jacobus, Anne Reeves, William F. Johnson, Karl Light, Sarah Hirschman, Shirley Satterfield, James A. Floyd, Jack Roberts, Ray Wadsworth, Herb W. Hobler, Mark Freda, and Nancy Beck.