2026 President’s Medalists

Antonia, you are described as a student of “deep integrity and strong values” who has left an indelible mark on The Hill. A double major in English and philosophy, you were “curious, interested, and just annoyed enough” to transform initial classroom discomfort into a profound, self-assured love for philosophical inquiry. Your academic excellence was recognized with the 2025 Harold Titus Award, honoring your analyses of social and political questions. Currently, at a time when many seniors have “their foot halfway out the door,” you are simultaneously completing a Senior Symposium project on animal rights and a senior project in English writing.

Your leadership at the Bandersnatch has been equally transformative to campus life. As general operations manager, you supervised a team of over 30 people and expanded its operations to seven days a week to serve as a vital “third place” for the first-year community — and its first profitable revenue year in over two decades. Your impact as a mentor is further felt through your work as a two-time off-campus orientation leader, where your “sage advice” and empathy helped new students navigate their transition to Denison. Beyond the classroom and operations, you enrich our campus through your artistry as the drummer for the Overalls and as the first female-identifying member of the Hilltoppers. Congratulations on being a 2026 President’s Medalist!

Katie, you are celebrated as a “gem” and a “gamechanger” whose presence in the classroom and the community is transformative. A double major in journalism and religion, your academic work is defined by a unique ability to synthesize disparate ideas in creative ways, such as your senior research project that analyzed the intersection between the biblical Book of Revelation and the television series The Last of Us. In the field of journalism, your “deeply felt and empathetic stories” have unearthed hidden histories, such as your research into the Jewish history of Licking County, which inspired further study by historians at Cornell University.

Your leadership on campus is versatile and impactful. You have served as the president of Ladies Night Out, a Religion department fellow, and an editor of the Denison Journal of Religion. As a senior docent and tour coordinator you have used your “easy humor” and genuine care to help prospective families connect authentically with the Denison community.

Your commitment to building community extends beyond The Hill, notably through your reporting at Otterbein Senior Life, where you built transformative intergenerational relationships while becoming a craftsperson in the fiber arts. For your exceptional academic commitment, your creative intellectual contributions, and your tireless service to the Denison and Licking County communities, we are thrilled to recognize you with the President’s Medal.

Erica, you are a “scholar-artist” who embodies the breadth and depth of a liberal arts education. A double major in chemistry and music performance, your faculty describe you as capable of traversing disciplinary boundaries with ease. In the chemistry department, your senior honors research has yielded “significant breakthroughs,” and your technical mastery and intellectual independence led to the prestigious DAAD-RISE Fellowship to conduct research in Germany.

Your presence in the Department of Music has been equally foundational. A leader in the DU Wind Ensemble since your first semester, you are also a gifted percussionist and winner of the 2024 Concerto-Aria Competition. Your artistry reached an international stage, representing Denison in South Korea and collaborating with conservatory students in Poland. Locally, you foster community and spirit through your band, DOGHOUSE.

Your leadership on campus is characterized by a “maturity in mentoring.” As a three-time first-year fellow, you have been a trusted guide for new Denisonians. Through the Scholar-Leader program, you spearheaded the Pathway Partners project to develop a curriculum to aid rural, first-generation high school students transition to college. Whether you are tutoring in ChemSpa, or leading the Panhellenic Council, you consistently uplift those around you. For your “bravery and tenacity” and the legacy of service you leave behind, we are proud to honor you with the President’s Medal.

Brennan, you are recognized as being “off the charts” in intellectual motivation and your pursuit of academic excellence. As a philosophy, politics, and economics major with a minor in data for political research, you have navigated a distinctive and rigorous academic path. Your senior research, which synthesizes moral claims for local autonomy with the complex quantitative analysis of foreign aid, has been lauded as “solid Ph.D. level” in quality. Your classroom presence is defined by an “infectious enthusiasm” and a unique ability to reframe dense theoretical questions in ways that draw your peers into an enlivening intellectual dialogue.

Your leadership is characterized by “hard, unseen work,” ensuring the community’s collective success. As Finance Committee and Policy chair for the Denison Campus Governance Association, you restructured student organization funding across 160+ clubs to create a more equitable and accessible system. You have enlarged our global perspective through applied fieldwork in Namibia, researching ethical development and waste management, and earning recognition as a Fulbright winner. Whether performing with the Sketch’rs comedy troupe, winning awards for “Exceptional Representation” at Model UN, or serving as a dedicated teaching assistant, you lead with a rare blend of confidence, humility, and humor. For the profound ways you have used your intellectual firepower to serve those with the most need, we are proud to honor you with the President’s Medal.

Cian, you are described as a “singular student” and a “man of character whose actions always match his words.” A financial economics major, you are lauded as the best student one of your professors has taught at Denison, and are distinguished by your “enthusiasm to embrace academic challenges.” Your academic accolades are vast, including the Park National Bank Economics Award, the Forbes B. Wiley Mathematics Award, and being named a three-time Glerum Top 50 Scholar-Athlete. Your intellectual inventiveness led to sophisticated research on the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy during the Covid-19 pandemic, utilizing advanced Python coding and natural language processing to produce work of a caliber rarely seen at the undergraduate level.

On the lacrosse field, you have been a four-year member and co-captain and instrumental in the evolution of your team’s culture. Your coaches and teammates admire you for your athletic skill, resilience, and “unwavering commitment” to those around you. You have extended this leadership to the broader community as a mentor and tutor and by coordinating service efforts to collect donations for the Licking County Food Pantry. For your exceptional academic record, your tenacious leadership, and the intentional way you have “left this university better than you found it,” we are delighted to recognize you with the President’s Medal.

Kael, you are described as a “presence that elevates the learning environment for everyone.” A global commerce major with a minor in economics, you have achieved academic success at the highest level. Your research on sustainable tourism in Machu Picchu demonstrated a sophisticated ability to balance environmental and cultural perspectives. For these achievements and others, you were recently elected into Phi Beta Kappa.

Seeking to challenge yourself, you immersed yourself in the study of music theatre, where your original narratives and analytical connections reframed how the material is now taught in the classroom. Your professors describe you as embodying a willingness to challenge yourself, a capacity for deep and thoughtful engagement, a genuine humility, and a commitment to uplifting those around you.

On the tennis court, your legacy is unmatched. As co-captain, you’ve become Denison’s most decorated player: a six-time All-American and two-time NCAA Singles Runner-Up. Your recent 100th career singles win placed you among just eight players in recorded NCAA history to reach this milestone and made you the NCAC’s all-time singles leader. You’re also one of the few Denison tennis players named an ITA Academic All-American. Your coach calls you a “great human” who remains humble despite extraordinary success. For your historic athletic achievements, intellectual bravery, and leading quietly by example, you have earned the President’s Medal.

Susannah, you are lauded as among the “absolute very finest students” to have ever graced this institution. A double major in education and communication with a perfect academic record, you were inducted into Phi Beta Kappa as a junior and recognized as a fellow in both of your departments. Your intellectual insatiability has led you to conduct rigorous independent research on topics ranging from the constructions of rurality in country music to the psychological barriers facing those with food allergies.

Your impact on Denison is visible in your record-setting work as a senior docent, where you conducted 80 prospective student interviews and led 45 tours in a single year — a feat of dedication that has fundamentally shaped how families understand our community. As a student representative on the Academic Affairs Council, you have been described as the “tide that indeed lifts all boats,” a leader whose thoughtfulness invites peers into a deeper intellectual community.

Whether you are teaching eighth-graders through the Breakthrough Collaborative or spearheading the Pathway Partners project to provide vital mentorship for rural, first-generation students, you lead with a strategic vision grounded in service and justice. For your extraordinary academic achievement, your transformative leadership, and the profound legacy of care you leave behind, we are honored to recognize you with the President’s Medal.

Sarah, your nominators applaud your impact on the Denison community and your “fearless and charming” reporting. As a journalism major, you have distinguished yourself as an award-winning reporter, winning first-place awards at the professional — not collegiate — level for your work with The Reporting Project and The Columbus Dispatch. Your investigation into the treatment of students in a local school led to tangible change and ensured that LGBTQ families finally felt “seen.” Your faculty celebrate your independent thinking as a three-semester teaching assistant, inspiring your peers to take the risks necessary for growth.

On the soccer pitch, you are an elite Academic All-American and a “tenacious defender,” serving as a two-year captain and honored as, among others, the NCAC 2025 Defensive Player of the Year, 2025 NCAC All-Tournament Team, 2024 & 2025 All-NCAC First Team, and 2024 & 2025 United Soccer Coaches All-Region First Team. Your coaches admire how you create an environment that promotes belonging and connection among your teammates. Whether you are artfully and rigorously reporting a feature story or leading your team from the back line, you demonstrate a courageous and “collaborative spirit.” For your exceptional academic achievements, your commitment to investigative truth, and your inspiring leadership on and off the field, we are proud to honor you with the President’s Medal.

Ellie, you are celebrated for your “vibrant intensity,” which has led to academic mastery across fields as divergent as chemistry, global health, and computer science. As a chemistry major and mathematics minor, you have garnered prestigious accolades such as the Ebaugh Prize in General Chemistry and the Excellence in General Physics Award. Your research as an Anderson Science Summer Research Scholar showcased your intellectual strengths as you independently designed experiments to investigate indoor air contaminants, skillfully utilizing advanced analytical techniques to assess environmental impacts.

As president of the Women in Business Organization, you have propelled the organization forward with a collaborative spirit, involving and empowering a dozen other student leaders to expand the group’s mission and impact.

Your remarkable coachability, demonstrated by your tireless dedication to refining your professional presence, and your “consummate liberal arts student” identity make you a model for your peers. For your extraordinary academic achievements and your transformative impact as a campus leader, we are proud to honor you with the President’s Medal.

Nancy, you are acclaimed as being in “rarefied air,” a student whose level of achievement and deep engagement with this institution has few equals. As a double major in data analytics and sustainability & environmental studies, you have excelled across the board. Your senior research on soil carbon left faculty in awe when you produced a literature review and GIS mapping analysis overnight, demonstrating the “astonishing work ethic” and meticulous care that defines your scholarship. Your academic maturity was evident from your very first year when you contributed to a research paper on climate change framings on TikTok, which was accepted at a premier national conference.

Your contributions to the Denison community are equally profound. You have served as a “foundational pillar” of the Office of Alumni & Family Engagement, where, as Reunion crew manager, you used your data skills to solve complex staffing puzzles and handled difficult constituent relations with “professional grace.” Whether leading first-year orientation, tutoring peers in the Multilingual Learning Office, or serving as president of both TEDx Denison and the Vietnamese Student Organization, you have led with a “collaborative spirit” and empathy. Nancy, for the purposeful ways you have used data to address global challenges and the exceptional care you have shown your community, we are proud to honor you with the President’s Medal.