President-elect Barack Obama’s all-star administration is filling out quite nicely, but… there are an alarming number of smug Princeton alumni entering the fold.

During a press conference on Monday, Obama announced that he was nominating Lisa Jackson GS ’86 to head the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in his Ivy-friendly administration.

For those not keeping a running tally, this brings the total number of Princeton alumni tapped thus far to an unhealthy range of more than five.

The ever-smug Daily Princetonian was also quick to point out that two other alumni held the position before:

Two other alumni have led the agency, charged with regulating chemicals and protecting human health by safeguarding the natural environment. William Ruckelshaus ’55 served the agency's inaugural leader from its creation by Richard Nixon in 1970 to 1973 and again from 1983-85 under the Reagan administration. Russell Train ’41 led the agency from 1973 to 1977 during the administrations of Nixon and Gerald Ford.

I suppose congratulations are in order, but considering the self-congratulatory circlejerk already in-progress over at the Princeton camp, there’s no reason to further bolster their egos.

Hopefully, Obama’s confidence is well-placed, because the initial response to his selection was less than stellar:

“Under her watch, New Jersey’s environment only got dirtier, incredible as that may seem," Jeff Ruch, the executive director for Public Employees for Public Responsibility, said in a statement. "Lisa Jackson is cut out of the same professional cloth as the current administrator, Stephen Johnson — a pliant technocrat who will follow orders. If past is prologue, one cannot reasonably expect meaningful change if she is appointed to lead EPA.”

Burnnnnnned.