Princeton University Athletics
Players Mentioned
Skokowski Named Rhodes Scholar
November 24, 2014 | Women's Track and Field
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"Rachel is a brilliant student," said André Benhaïm, an associate professor of French and Italian. "As a French concentrator, she has fostered her passion for the visual arts, and their rapports with philosophy and literature. Rachel's not only an intellectual dynamo, but she's a wonderful person. Her upbeat personality, sense of humor and overall liveliness have enlightened our courses and corridors."
A member of Phi Beta Kappa, Skokowski was awarded the R. Percy Alden Memorial Prize in French her junior year and the Haarlow Prize, awarded by the Council of the Humanities, as a sophomore. She also served as a member of the Council's Behrman Undergraduate Society of Fellows.
"Rachel is a student of exceptional maturity, clarity of vision and intellectual seriousness," said Daniel Heller-Roazen, the Arthur W. Marks '19 Professor of Comparative Literature and the Council of the Humanities. "At Princeton, she has tackled some of the most difficult and diverse moments in the history of literature with impressive dedication and energy — and with extraordinary results."
Skokowski's thesis is an interdisciplinary study of the relationship between private collections and museums in 19th-century France. She was awarded a fellowship from the Princeton Institute for International and Regional Studies (PIIRS) to conduct thesis research in Paris.
"She's not just one of the brightest French concentrators I've had the good fortune to work with over the last 10 years at Princeton, but she's also quite simply an exceptional person, driven to excel as much by sheer joy and boundless generosity as by a deep thirst for knowledge," said Skokowski's thesis adviser, Göran Blix, an associate professor of French and Italian. "She has defined what it means to be an open-minded, intellectually exuberant, as well as responsible and engaged scholar."
Outside of the classroom, Skokowski competes year-round on the varsity cross country and track teams. She also serves on the Princeton University Art Museum Student Advisory Board, as a peer academic adviser and peer tutor, and served as a curriculum developer for middle school students in Trenton through the University's student volunteer tutoring program.
After the Rhodes, Skokowski plans to pursue a career as a museum curator, "harnessing my Silicon Valley background and embracing the potential of digital initiatives to make museums relevant in today's world," she wrote in her Rhodes application. She has already immersed herself in the art world outside of Princeton in internships at the Morgan Library and Museum in New York City, the Santa Fe Arts Commission and a private print collection in Woodside, California.
At Oxford, Skokowski intends to keep running as a member of the Oxford University Athletics Club and referred to her love of the sport in her Rhodes application: "Transforming often slow-moving museums into forward-thinking institutions will not be easy, but my passion for running has prepared me to lead these efforts. Running has constantly pushed me to rise to a challenge."
Skokowski is the 21st Princeton athlete to receive a Rhodes Scholarship, and first since Landis Stankievich of the men's hockey team won in 2008. The list includes Mike Spence, a former hockey player at Princeton and a recent winner of the Nobel Prize for Economics, as well as Bill Bradley, a basketball player at Princeton and a long-time U.S. senator. A complete list of these winners is below.
1995-Babik, Jennifer (Princeton, Field Hockey, Softball)
1933-Billings, Frederick Tremaine (Princeton, Lacrosse, Football)
1965-Bradley, William Warren (Princeton, Basketball)
1931-Byles, Julius (Princeton, Football)
1990-Dechet, Andrew John (Princeton, Soccer)
1948-Douglas, John Woolman (Princeton, Football)
1977-Fournier, Daniel Edward (Princeton, Football)
1948-Harr, Jr., Karl Gottlieb (Princeton, Football)
1970-Hicks, David Vern (Princeton, Rowing)
1975-McCaffery, Michael Gerard (Princeton, Swimming)
2005-Miller, Jeff (Princeton, Basketball)
1976-Perles, Suzanne (Princeton, Field Hockey)
1967-Peters, Charles (Princeton, Football)
1960-Sachs, Daniel Martin (Princeton, Football)
2003-Shackelton, Laura A. (Princeton, Track & Field)
1965-Smith, Michael Edward (Princeton, Football)
1965-Spence, A. Michael (Princeton, Ice Hockey)
2008-Stankievech, Landis (Princeton, Ice Hockey)
1977-Stengel, Richard Allen (Princeton, Basketball)
1993-Ticktin, Miriam Iris (Princeton, Swimming)