College names Class of 2019 valedictorian and salutatorian

Class of 2019 Valedictorian: Nicholas Piaquadio

Nicholas Piaquadio ’19 (Electrical Engineering; Physics) of Wallkill, New York, has been named the Class of 2019 valedictorian, and will address his fellow graduates as the student speaker at the Sunday, May 19 Commencement Ceremony for the Schools of Business, Education, Fine & Performing Arts and Science & Engineering.

In addition to a massive, 150+ credit double major in electrical engineering and physics, Piaquadio was a member of the first-ever class of SUNY New Paltz students to earn Keysight Technologies Industry-Ready Certification, was on a team that developed a stomach-implantable pH sensor for the Engineering Design EXPO, completed a summer internship at Central Hudson, worked with faculty mentors on multiple research projects, and played clarinet in the College’s Symphonic Band.

Class of 2019 Salutatorian: Reuben Slater

Reuben Slater ’19 (History; Anthropology) of Brooklyn, New York, has been named the salutatorian of the SUNY New Paltz Class of 2019, and will give the student address at the Saturday, May 18 Commencement Ceremony for College of Liberal Arts & Sciences majors.

During his time in New Paltz, Slater has served in hall government and spent two years in the College’s summer Archaeological Field School at Historic Huguenot Street, first as a student and then as a crew chief. He discovered a passion for archaeology and honed skills as an historian, an archivist and a critical thinker, which he will apply after graduation when he joins the Rockefeller Archive Center in Tarrytown, New York, as an archival assistant.