Five Princeton seniors have earned scholarships to pursue graduate study in Great Britain in the coming academic year. Three — Sherif Girgis ’08, Brett Masters ’08, and Landis Stankievech ’08 — will be Rhodes Scholars, and a fourth, Sarah Vander Ploeg ’08, will be a Marshall Scholar. Pauline Yeung ’08 is the recipient of the Sachs Scholarship, a Princeton honor named for Daniel Sachs ’60.
Girgis and Masters are among 32 Americans in this year’s Rhodes class, while Stankievech is one of 11 Canadian recipients. Princeton last had three students chosen for the Rhodes Scholarship in 1995.
Girgis, a philosophy major, plans to continue his studies in philosophy at Oxford. At Princeton, he has served as president of the Anscombe Society and editor-in-chief of the Princeton Tory. Born in Egypt and raised in Delaware, Girgis has studied four foreign languages and served as a Spanish translator at the University Medical Center at Princeton. He also won the 2007 Dante Prize from the Dante Society of America for his essay on the Italian poet.
Masters, a comparative literature major, hopes to enroll in the medieval English studies program at Oxford. In addition to medieval literature, his academic interests include finance and nonfiction writing. Masters, a peer educator at the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Center, helped organize efforts last year by the Gay Family Rights Project to legalize gay marriage. He also has served as a tutor for local elementary school and middle school students.
Stankievech, a mechanical and aerospace engineering major, plans to study philosophy, politics, and economics at Oxford. He aims to combine his interests in engineering, the humanities, and the social sciences to address environmental issues. As an undergraduate, Stankievech has excelled as a forward on the men’s hockey team and as a volunteer with youth programs, including the Special Olympics Skating Program and Princeton Youth Hockey.
Vander Ploeg, one of 37 Marshall Scholars, is a Woodrow Wilson School major and a candidate for a certificate in musical performance. She will pursue a master’s degree in vocal studies at the Royal College of Music in London. Vander Ploeg, an accomplished vocal soprano and violist, has been a soloist in the Chapel Choir and a member of the Chamber Choir and the University Orchestra.
Yeung, a native of Hong Kong, plans to use the Sachs Scholarship to pursue a master’s degree in global governance at Oxford’s Worcester College. The Woodrow Wilson School major is fluent in five languages, has served as co-chair of the Princeton Law and Public Affairs Undergraduate Forum, and leads the Wilson School’s policy conference on “The Rise of China.” The Sachs Scholarship was established in 1970 to provide a senior with the opportunity to study, work, or travel abroad after graduation.