Staude '09 named class valedictorian

Staude, an economics major from Frankfurt, Germany, will graduate at the top of his class, with the highest GPA and the most A and A-plus grades. Staude is pursuing certificates in finance, musical performance and environmental studies.

“I think it’s an incredible honor,” Staude said of being named valedictorian. “I was stunned when I found out. I was very happy.”

He added that he had been working on his thesis right before its deadline when an e-mail arrived from Associate Dean of the College Claire Fowler asking him to come to her office. There, he was informed of the honor.

An accomplished pianist, Staude performed Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 20 in D Minor last March with the Princeton University Orchestra as its concerto competition winner. He also performs with the French theater workshop L’Avant-Scene.

A two-time winner of the Shapiro Prize for Academic Excellence, Staude also won the George B. Wood Legacy Sophomore Prize for exceptional academic achievement during the sophomore year and the Class of 1939 Princeton Scholar Award, which is given to the undergraduate who has achieved the highest academic standing for all college work at the University by the end of junior year. He is also a member of the Phi Beta Kappa honor society.

Staude’s academic interests lie in the area of environmental economics. He analyzed the economic impacts of the 2005 Clean Air Interstate Rule for his senior thesis.

Staude’s thesis adviser, economics professor Hank Farber GS ’77, said his thesis was “a very ambitious project” and was “carried out in a creative, thoughtful, and technically rigorous fashion,” according to a statement read by Malkiel at the meeting.

Last summer, Staude worked with the Goldman Sachs Special Situations Group in New York. Following graduation, he will work as a research analyst at Allen & Company.

Staude added that he was considering pursuing a Ph.D. in economics later in life, but has not yet made a final decision.

Hammer, who hails from Carrollton, Texas, is a classics major and has the fourth highest GPA in the senior class. A member of the Princeton ROTC, Hammer won a Rhodes Scholarship this fall and will pursue a master’s degree in theology at Oxford.

“I think that studying the interaction between what Christianity demands of us and what our responsibility to our country demands of us is a particularly pressing [issue] right now,” Hammer told The Daily Princetonian in November.

Following his time at Oxford, Hammer will serve as an infantry officer with the U.S. army.

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Hammer’s thesis examines the political philosophy of Cato the Younger, a statesman in ancient Rome. In his research, Hammer analyzed two major influences on Cato’s political thought: the Roman republican tradition and the Greek school of Stoicism.

Classics professor Harriet Flower, Hammer’s thesis adviser, called him “a stellar classicist” and a “remarkable student who sets exceptionally high standards for himself and is a truly independent thinker,” according to Malkiel’s statement.

“What Stephen’s doing in his thesis is [looking at] some key moments in Cato’s life to see how he makes his decisions,” Flower said in an interview.

“[Hammer is] a really great student who works really hard,” she added. “[His thesis] really was his project that he designed for himself.”

Hammer is a lead saxophonist in the Princeton University Jazz Ensemble and a peer minister with the Princeton Presbyterians. He is also a member of Phi Beta Kappa and has also received the University’s Shapiro Prize for Academic Excellence.

Both Staude and Hammer were nominated by the Faculty Committee on Examinations and Standing and were unanimously approved for the honors by the faculty attending the meeting.