Travis Hahn selected as Eberly College of Science summer 2026 student marshal
Travis Hahn of Nazareth, Pennsylvania, will be honored as the student marshal for the Penn State Eberly College of Science at the University’s summer 2026 commencement ceremony on Saturday, Aug. 15, on the University Park campus.
Hahn will graduate with a 4.0 GPA and a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and a master’s degree in applied statistics. He started as a music composition major and eventually switched into mathematics. After making that switch, Hahn began an internship with the U.S. Department of Energy where he worked at Brookhaven National Laboratory.
While at BNL, Hahn worked on a project where he examined how well weather forecasting models predicted thunderstorms associated with coastal air movements in Texas. This experience sparked his interest in the atmosphere and the desire to switch his career path.
In an effort to explore new fields, Hahn conducted hydrology research at Argonne National Laboratory, but he had a renewed confidence that his passion was with meteorology research.
During Hahn’s time as a Penn State student, he received multiple awards including the President Walker Award in 2022, the President Sparks Award in 2023, the Evan Pugh Scholar Junior Award in 2025 and the Evan Pugh Scholar Senior Award in 2026. His love for music made its way into his extracurricular involvements where he was the treasurer for Living Music at Penn State and vice president of the Penn State Tuba Euphonium Ensemble, in addition to being a member of Mu Sigma Rho — a national honor society for statistics students.
Hahn shared how he felt when he found out that he was selected as the Eberly College of Science’s student marshal this semester.
“I wholeheartedly believed there had been some sort of mistake,” Hahn said. “I was somewhat shocked to hear that I was being recognized for what I believe to be my obligation, but I do feel deeply honored to share in the legacy of this institution I have called my home.”
After Hahn graduates, he will pursue his doctoral degree at Penn State in meteorology and atmospheric science with John Peters in the Penn State College of Earth and Mineral Sciences.