Rosen '11, Thomson-DeVeaux '11 receive Pyne Prize

Alex Rosen ’11 and Amelia Thomson-DeVeaux ’11 have been awarded the Moses Taylor Pyne Honor Prize, the University announced Monday morning.

The prize, which is the highest general distinction given to an undergraduate by the University, is awarded on the basis of scholarship, character and leadership. Past winners include former University President Robert Goheen GS ’48, former U.S. Sen. Paul Sarbanes ’54 and current U.S. Supreme Court justice Sonia Sotomayor ’76. Last year, former USG president Connor Diemand-Yauman ’10 received the award.

Rosen is majoring in economics with a certificate in global health and health policy and has served as Class of 2011 president for four years. He is also the chair of the Honor Committee and a residential college adviser in Whitman College.

“I feel extremely honored and humbled,” Rosen said in an e-mail. “It still hasn’t sunk in completely.”

In the past two years, Rosen has focused his independent academic work on economics and health care. His thesis will examine hospital ownership and the quality of health care.

“My independent work really has opened my eyes to the many ways that the knowledge and skills I’ve learned at Princeton can be applied to a medical career,” Rosen said.

Economics professor Nancy Reichman, Rosen’s junior paper and senior thesis adviser said in an e-mail that she hopes he pursues publication of his senior thesis, which explores how patient outcome is affected by hospital ownership based on nationwide data.

“Alex was doggedly interested in researching a topic in health services research that has implications for health care reform,” Reichman said. “He persisted until he identified a clear and important gap in the literature and devised a study to address it that has both scientific and public policy relevance.”

Joao Biehl, co-director of the Program in Global Health and Health Policy noted that Rosen is “a wonderful student and caring colleague,” and commended Rosen on “an all-too-rare capacity to integrate theory and observation and his scrupulous elaboration of what is possible and not just probable.”

Biehl added that “Alex has a brilliant analytic mind, works in multi-disciplinary ways and is deeply committed to making a positive difference in health care access and delivery.”

On campus, Rosen is a member of the executive board of the Princeton Premedical Society, the governance committee of the Council of the Princeton University Community and the executive committee of the University’s Alumni Council.

“I am very fortunate in that most of my activities at Princeton have not felt like work,” he said of his many extracurricular commitments. “Being class president has meant a lot to me personally, and I am so thankful that my classmates have enabled me to serve in this capacity for four years.”

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Last summer, Rosen worked as a clinical research intern at Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, D.C., and he plans to attend medical school and become a physician after graduation.

“Working at Children’s was an intensive clinical research experience which helped me realize that I would like to incorporate this type of research into my future medical career,” Rosen explained. “It also gave me insight into one way I could combine my economics background and my interest in health care.”

Thomson-DeVeaux is majoring in religion with certificates in gender and sexuality studies and Hellenic studies. She is the co-founder of the Equal Writes Blog, which focuses on issues of feminism and gender and the co-founder of a student group called Let’s Talk Sex.

Thomson-DeVeaux, a self-proclaimed activist, is also a co-chair of the multi-campus group New Jersey Students for Women’s Health, the former president of the Princeton Pro-Choice Vox and a member of the Steering Committee on Undergraduate Women’s Leadership, which explores women’s academic and extracurricular leadership. She also works with the Sustained Dialogue program to moderate discussions on gender and socioeconomic issues.

“The extracurricular work that I’ve done has focused mostly on how we can make sure that every Princeton student feels that they thrived here,” Thomson-DeVeaux said. “[The award] feels like an incredible affirmation of how much this university values social justice activism.”

In the past two years, Thomson-DeVeaux’s independent work has focused on gender and religion.

“I think it’s absolutely crucial to think about the intersections of gender and religion, particularly because feminist scholarship has sometimes been perceived as hostile toward ‘patriarchal’ religion,” she explained. “I want to create nuance in what can often be a polarizing conversation.”

One of her junior papers dealt with campus sexual culture and her senior thesis will examine feminist theory, Christian theology and disability studies through the work of French philosopher Simone Weil.

“Amelia offers a bold yet nuanced re-reading of Weil that critically examines notions of consent, divinity and self-denial,” said religion professor Eric Gregory, who advised Thomson-DeVeaux on her thesis. “Amelia has a stunning intelligence and gifted writing style, evidenced by her ability to avoid jargon and synthesize multiple sources without losing her own voice.”

“She is a remarkable scholar and leader,” he said. “Personally, she is mature, winsome and engaging. Academically, she joins rigor, creativity and moral seriousness in thinking about things that matter.”

English professor Jill Dolan, the director of the Program in Sexuality and Gender Studies, said that Thomson-DeVeaux was “incredibly empathetic, generous and fair-minded in her approach.”

“Amelia’s commitment to feminist discourse on Princeton’s campus and beyond has surpassed any undergraduate student with whom I’ve ever worked,” she said. “She’s tireless in her effort to move the conversation about women’s rights forward productively, and she’s creative in her approach to bringing more people on board for discussions … Amelia leaves an incredible legacy to men and women on Princeton’s campus.”

Last summer, Thomson-DeVeaux lived in a Greek nunnery for two weeks as part of her research and said the experience changed the way she thinks about religion and feminism. After graduation, she hopes to attend either a divinity school or a religious studies graduate program.

“I’m proud of the bridge-building work I’ve done here,” Thomson-DeVeaux said. “But I couldn’t have done that if people hadn’t been open to it in the first place.”