Erik Medina, a chemistry major from Miami, has been named the valedictorian of Princeton’s Class of 2025. Rosie Eden, a classics major from Scottsdale, Arizona, will serve as the salutatorian. The Princeton faculty accepted these nominations during their meeting on April 28.
The Princeton Class of 2025 Commencement is scheduled to be held at Princeton Stadium on Tuesday, May 27, where both Medina and Eden will deliver speeches.
Medina, who is passionate about upcycling plastics and chemistry’s potential to better lives, found inspiration during his junior year after attending a symposium by Erin Stache, an assistant professor of chemistry. Stache commented on Medina’s dedication, saying, “The combination of research interest, real world applications and a personal connection with the professor was fantastic.”
Medina’s senior thesis, titled “Burning Rubber Duckies with Flashlights: Applications of Photothermal Conversion to PVC Chemical Upcycling,” led to a co-authored paper in the Journal of the American Chemical Society. Stache remarked, “That’s our flagship journal. We target JACS for every paper we want to publish. For an undergraduate to get a co-first-author paper, after less than a year of research — that just doesn’t happen.”
Medina’s achievements extend beyond chemistry; he has studied multiple languages and participated in various public outreach activities. His chemistry professor, Michael Kelly, affirmed Medina’s capabilities: “I don’t think even his classmates realize how talented he is.”
Medina plans to pursue a Ph.D. in organic chemistry at the University of Wisconsin-Madison after a year teaching at his alma mater, Ransom Everglades School.
Rosie Eden, the salutatorian, became captivated by classics after taking the Humanities Sequence at Princeton. She helps guide and foster community among students of this sequence as a mentor. Eden has plans for law school, aspiring to become a judge. Her interest in law is deeply integrated with her classics studies, demonstrating how parallels can be drawn between interpreting legal documents and classical texts.
Eden’s senior thesis examined Socrates’ critique in “The Republic” under the guidance of Professor Benjamin Morison, who noted her fresh insights into Plato’s work. Eden’s academic pursuits and extracurricular engagements, including positions with the Classics Club and Cycling Club, have been notable during her time at Princeton.
Reflecting on her time at Princeton, Eden expressed her sentiments: “It is so bittersweet to be graduating from Princeton and I know I will miss this place so much.”
