It’s standing room only in Swasey Chapel as faculty in regalia and members of the Board of Trustees and Advisory Council process, followed by hordes of students swarming the pews in anticipation of the surprises to come.
Everyone looks forward to learning who will be the winners of the Teaching Excellence Awards and President’s Medals, which recognize academic achievement, in addition to “some combination of the following: service to the community, contribution to the arts, enlargement of the community’s global perspective, athletic fitness and achievement, leadership ability and contribution to community discourse.”
During the convocation, President Adam Weinberg noted two members of the inaugural class of President’s Medalists were represented that day: Lee Sachs ’85, chair of the Board of Trustees, and Provost Kim Coplin ’85, who was attending her son’s wedding festivities that day. Her able proxy, Senior Associate Provost Cathy Dollard ’88, is also a President’s Medalist.
Associate Professor of Languages Hanada Al-Masri received the Brickman Teaching Excellence Award “For her inventive integration of leading-edge technology into her instruction, her creative infusion of cultural studies into linguistic skill development, and her leadership.”
Noah Chartier ’25, is one of 10 President’s Medalists this year, in part for his contributions “to the learning environment … and lowering people’s inhibitions to the point that no one feels strange in their nerdiest, most academically authentic selves.” He’s also the son of President’s Medalist Tanya Harmon Chartier ‘93, and a third-generation Denisonian.
