Alumni

If you are a graduate of the Saint Peter’s University Honors Program and would like to stay in contact with your classmates and the program, join the SPU Honors Program Alumni Facebook group.

Graduates of the Saint Peter’s University Honors Program go on to complete graduate studies and hold successful careers in a multitude of disciplines. Recent graduates have been placed in programs at Seton Hall University and the Seton Hall University School of Law, Fordham University and Fordham University School of Law, Rutgers Law School, William & Mary Law School, the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, Johns Hopkins Whiting School of Engineering, New York University and the NYU Tandon School of Engineering, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy, Stanford University School of Medicine, Penn State University, Princeton University, the London School of Economics, and the University of Edinburgh Business School. They hold positions in finance, law, government, education, medicine, and more at places such as Deloitte, Lord Abbott, Morgan Stanley, KPMG, Fisher Investments, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, the U.S. Department of Justice, the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office, the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey, PSE&G, the Port Authority of NY-NJ, the NYC Department of Health & Mental Hygiene, and the Brooklyn Public Library.

Renee Lladoc (’18) Renee Lladoc graduated from Saint Peter’s University in 2018 sure of her passion for traveling and set on turning that passion into a career. With her degree in International Business, leadership and organizational skills learned through her positions as a resident assistant and in the Student Government Association, and two study-abroad experiences – to India and Japan – under her belt, Renee began work as a travel specialist at ALTOUR International. Her focus is on leisure, corporate, and entertainment travel, where she connects clients to global brands and people, giving them the travel experience of a lifetime. She says, “I like to think of my job as matchmaking (but with a lot more stress!).” Although she is based in Manhattan, her position has taken her all over the world. Her favorite location is the Maldives – a true tropical paradise! Besides her work in travel, Renee is an aspiring author.

Matthew Goodman (’22) Matthew graduated from Saint Peter’s University in 2022 with a B.A. in Mathematics and a minor in Secondary Education. He is now a Math Teacher at Clifton High School, where he teaches Statistics and Geometry. He is also pursuing his master’s degree at Montclair State University in Teaching Middle Grades Mathematics. For the last two summers, Matt has returned to Saint Peter’s to teach a supplemental mathematics course for the incoming EOF and TRIO SSS students.

Patrick Farrell (’19) Patrick graduated from Saint Peter’s in 2019 as a Political Science and History double major. He went on to receive his MPA from Penn State University, specializing in Public Sector Human Resources Management. He currently works as a Strategic Business Partner for the Veterans Health Administration, in the agency’s Employee and Labor Relations section. He previously served as Program Specialist in the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service, overseeing funding and participation operations for eight state agency WIC programs in the mid-Atlantic region. He is currently enrolled in the University of Illinois – Springfield Doctor of Public Administration program and is a Student Associate Member of the American College of Healthcare Executives. In his spare time, Patrick is actively engaged in the electoral process and serves as an Election Deputy for the Camden County Board of Elections.

Patrick Caoile, Ph.D. (’18) Since graduating as an English major with honors from Saint Peter’s University in 2018, Patrick has continued to pursue a career in higher education and life as a writer. After completing his MA in English from Seton Hall University in 2020 and a Ph.D. in English—Creative Writing from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette in 2023, he was appointed to the faculty at Hamilton College in Clinton, NY as a Visiting Assistant Professor of Literature and Creative Writing. At Hamilton, he teaches introductory and intermediate creative writing courses. Starting this year he’ll also be teaching a first-year course on the Global Gothic. Recently, he received a Poet & Author Fellowship to attend the Martha’s Vineyard Institute of Creative Writing 2024 Summer Writers’ Conference. His work has been featured in storySouth, Porter House Review, the anthology Growing Up Filipino 3, and elsewhere. Read more about Patrick on his website.

Christian Ugaz Valencia, M.D. (’16) A proud, undocumented student, Christian graduated from Saint Peter’s with a degree in Biochemistry and Latino Studies in 2016. While an undergrad, he worked with Saint Peter’s Center for Undocumented Students (TCUS) and the national immigrants’ rights movement, traveling to Washington, D.C. to advocate for legislation to provide undocumented youth with a pathway to citizenship. After graduation, Christian worked as a clinical research coordinator at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in NYC on projects varying from diabetes prevention, food insecurity interventions, and a maternal and child health study. He was then admitted to Stanford Medical School. At Stanford, he performed research in neuro-oncology and participated in the Medicine and Public Health (MPH) program. Christian is now a resident in Emergency Medicine at Mount Sinai and a member of the Leaders in Health Disparities Program (LHDP). His passions are immigrant health initiatives and working on improving the health outcomes of the queer and trans populations.

Nathalie Staiger-Gutierrez (’15) Nathalie graduated from Saint Peter’s in 2015 with a B.S. in Biology. In 2019, Nathalie graduated with her Masters of Science in Marine Science and Technology with a concentration in Biogeochemistry from the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth – School for Marine Science and Technology. She is a marine biologist and currently works as a program assistant for NOAA Fisheries, where she specializes in project management, science communication, content creation, and data auditing for a commercial fishery program in the Northeast. Previously, she worked for the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries conducting lobster, sportfish, and recreational fishery research. She also works as an independent consultant for the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy, has a shark named after herself, and was featured in the credits of an episode of Shark Week! Read more about Nathalie.

Prajwal Niraula (’15) Prajwal was one of two co-Valedictorians at Saint Peter’s University’s 2015 Commencement ceremony. He graduated with a B.S. in Physics and Mathematics. He then went on to earn a Master’s in Astronomy from Wesleyan University and a Ph.D. in Planetary Astronomy and Science from M.I.T., where he is currently a postdoctoral research fellow in the Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences. Prajwal’s research focuses on exoplanet discoveries and their characterization. In 2022, Prajwal was part of a team of astronomers from M.I.T. whose research helped to reclassify a series of small exoplanets as stars nearly three times the size of Jupiter! Currently, he is working to understand what makes up the atmospheres of the planets outside our solar system using the Hubble Space Telescope and James Webb Space Telescope. He works closely with the TRAPPIST/SPECULOOS team in finding Earth-sized planets around Jupiter-sized stars and is paving a pathway to find Earth-like planets in other solar systems.

Semiray Kasoolu (’13) Semi graduated from Saint Peter’s in 2013 with a B.S. in Economics and Accounting. She continued her education earning an MPA in International Development from the Harvard Kennedy School. She now works as the Head of Impact Solutions at Y Analytics. Semi’s background is in helping governments, international organizations, and investors translate evidence-based research into more effective economic policies and capital allocation decisions. Prior to joining Y Analytics, Semi was a Research Manager at the Growth Lab at the Center for International Development at Harvard University, where she managed research projects focused on achieving sustainable and inclusive growth in a number of countries. Her areas of research focus include labor market frictions and women’s economic inclusion in the Middle East.

Prajjwol Gautam (’15) Prajjwol graduated in 2015 with a degree in Computer Science. He completed his Honors thesis on the Metaverse, exploring ways that virtual reality can help humans interact with everyday objects. Prajjwol’s interest in the progress of technology led him to his current position at SpaceX as part of the Starlink Ground Networking Team, where he manages a team of engineers who build tools and services to ensure optimal performance and reliability of Starlink’s ground networking infrastructure.