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PU Students Awarded Rhodes Scholarships

Princeton University senior Stephen Hammer and two 2008 graduates, Scott Moore and Timothy Nunan, have been awarded Rhodes Scholarships for graduate study at the University of Oxford.

Among the 32 American college students who won the prestigious fellowships, which fund two or three years of study at Oxford, the University’s three winners represent the most from any U.S. institution this year.

Mr. Hammer, a classics major from Carrollton, Texas, will pursue a master’s degree in theology at Oxford. Mr. Moore, a Louisville, Kentucky native who majored in the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, plans to obtain a master’s degree in nature, society and environmental policy. Mr. Nunan, a German major from Palos Verdes, California, will seek a master’s degree in modern European history.

A member of Princeton’s Army ROTC program, Mr. Hammer said, “I believe that the study of theology at Oxford will prepare me for leadership unlike anything else.” In his Rhodes application, he wrote, “As the lawyer, judge and public thinker I ultimately aspire to be, and even as the newly minted platoon leader I will surely be, the insight and ability to navigate the fraught intersection of faith and public service will be fundamental to the integrity and vigor of my leadership.”

Mr. Moore earned certificates in environmental studies and Chinese language and culture in addition to his concentration in the Wilson School. Following his studies of environmental policy at Oxford, he hopes “to focus my career on enhancing and building upon the idea of international environmental cooperation, through work in the government, academic and NGO [nongovernmental organization] sectors.”

Having been interested in global issues since his high school years, Mr. Moore is currently a Fulbright fellow with the Environmental Economics and Policy Study Group at Peking University in Beijing, where he is studying Chinese environmental policy “with an aim toward developing effective frameworks for international environmental cooperation.”

At Princeton, Mr. Nunan organized public screenings of two Nazi-era films, a documentary and a comedy, for which he provided the English translations. These efforts to better explain this dark period of history exemplify his mission as he heads to Oxford and toward a career as a professional historian.

“Historians are society’s gadflies, teaching not to forget, but also not to mystify. There’s no quicker way to forget the past than to worship it,” Mr. Nunan wrote in his Rhodes application. “Historians, I believe, must seek to understand history’s would-be villains. The point is not to apologize or forgive, but rather to emphasize that the past is inhabited not by paragons of good and evil, but by humans like ourselves.”

Mr. Hammer, Mr. Moore and Mr. Nunan were chosen for the Rhodes Scholarships from among 769 applicants from 207 colleges and university nationwide. Including the 32 American winners, approximately 80 scholars are selected worldwide each year. Winners are chosen on the basis of high academic achievement, integrity of character, a spirit of unselfishness, respect for others, potential for leadership and physical vigor.

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