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Date: February 22, 1999
Renee Hsia, Alexander Sierk Win 1999 Pyne Prizes
PRINCETON, N.J. -- Seniors Renee Hsia and Alexander Sierk were named co-winners of the M. Taylor Pyne Prize, the highest honor conferred on a Princeton undergraduate, at Alumni Day ceremonies held on the Princeton University campus February 20.
Both Hsia, of Arlington, Texas, and Sierk, of Bettendorf, Iowa, plan to attend medical school after graduation. Hsia, a public policy major at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, also plans to pursue a master's in public health for a career in international health in developing countries. Sierk is majoring in molecular biology and will specialize in either surgery or oncology. The prize they shared is a memorial to Moses Taylor Pyne, a member of the Class of 1877.
Renee Hsia
"I think I see leadership, in my case, in terms of example," Hsia says of receiving the prize. "The choices I make are value driven, doing what I know is right, and making an effort to get a problem solved."
As a junior, Hsia, a member of the Woodrow Wilson School Advisory Council, had an opportunity to put leadership into action when she studied in South Africa. She participated in a Wilson School policy task force on education, which worked with the Amy Biehl Foundation in the black township of Guguletu. Hsia focused on children with special needs, examining how educational policy enacted since the new democratic government command in 1994 is actually working.
Hsia, who speaks both Mandarin and Cantonese, is writing her senior thesis on the activities of non-governmental organizations in China. "The United States and other Western countries are giving more money to formerly or current Communist countries as a way of building civil societies, but not much research has been devoted to evaluating the outcomes. Especially in China, you have to look at the political and anthropological context before judging if this really happens," explains Hsia. She visited China last summer to do thesis research. She also is pursuing a certificate in East Asian Studies and in Chinese Language.
At Princeton, Hsia has been involved with the Princeton Evangelical Fellowship, the Symphony Orchestra, and the Student Volunteer Council. She recently received the Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowship for New Americans, which will fund half the tuition costs for two years of graduate study at the school of her choice and give her a $20,000 stipend for living expenses each year. She is a recipient of the Collin Miller Scholarship and the R.W. van de Velde Prize, as was named the 1997-1998 Charles Plohn '66 Scholar. In September, Hsia received the George B. Wood Legacy Junior Prize, given to an incoming senior in recognition for outstanding work during junior year.
Her parents are Dr. Pei and Fontaine Hsia.
Alexander Sierk
Sierk's senior thesis is on the p53 gene, the most important known tumor suppressor. His research at Princeton, until recently under the direction of Professor Arnold Levine, has focused on analyzing samples of human colon cancer. "I think everyone in science recognizes molecular biology is the science of the next century. The goal of any laboratory research in cancer is to eventually make it to the clinic and save lives," Sierk says of his research.
Sierk was the place-kicker for the football squad for his four years at Princeton, and holds the honor of having scored the first six points in Princeton University Stadium. In December, the University received $25,000 for a scholarship fund in Sierk's honor from the Burger King Foundation when Sierk was named one of four finalists for the 1998 Burger King Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award. The University received $10,000 in November, when Sierk was honored as the Division I-AA Player of the Week. He was a 1998 NCAA Graduate Scholarship finalist, received All-Ivy honors in 1997 and 1998 and received a graduate fellowship from the National Football Foundation and the College Hall of Fame. In 1997, Sierk received the Class of 1952 Award, awarded annually to that member of the football team who has excelled on special teams of play, "exemplifying pride, hustle and determination."
At Princeton, Sierk volunteered as a Big Brother for two years. During his junior and senior years, he participated in a mentoring program at the Newgrange School in Trenton with other members of the Princeton football team. The mentors weekly visit the school, which serves learning disabled students from ages 8 to 18. "It was informal. We were there to give a little personalized attention, as both tutor and friend," Sierk says of the four-hour meetings at Newgrange. "It was draining but amazing, and everyone gained from the experience."
Sierk's parents are Dr. Donald and Patricia Sierk.
The Moses Taylor Pyne Prize, the University's highest general award for undergraduates, is given to a senior or seniors who most clearly manifest "excellence in scholarship, character, and effective leadership in the best interests of Princeton."