Mary 'Meg' Eileen Gaertner awarded President's Medal at Denison University

GRANVILLE, OH (05/16/2012)(readMedia)-- Denison University senior Mary 'Meg' Eileen Gaertner of Dallas (75238) was awarded a President's Medal by President Dale Knobel in a ceremony that took place on April 13, in Swasey Chapel. The President's Medal was established in 1985 to recognize stellar achievement by the top students in each graduating class. Gaertner was one of four to receive this honor.

Gaertner, a sociology/anthropology and international studies double major, has a long list of accomplishments to her credit: dean's list; Paschal Carter Scholarship; Distinguished Leadership Award; Denison's Amnesty International, president; Denison Religious Understanding, co-president of Elder Council; presentor at North Central Student Sociological Conference in Pittsburgh; First Year Studies Review Committee, student member; Sustained Dialogue, moderator; and a member of Phi Beta Kappa, the nation's premiere academic honorary.

Associate professor of English and chair of the faculty, Linda Krumholtz said of Gaertner, "Meg, you have demonstrated a deep commitment to social justice, reducing inequality and resolving conflicts among people. Simultaneously, you have blazed an intellectual trail in your majors of sociology/anthropology and international studies. One nominator states that after you completed the general education requirements and the requirements for the sociology/anthropology major, you continued to take difficult upper level courses in religion, biology and philosophy to enhance your understanding of the world."

Denison University, founded in 1831, is an independent, residential liberal arts institution located in Granville, Ohio. A highly selective college enrolling 2,100 full-time undergraduate students from all 50 states and dozens of foreign countries, Denison is a place where innovative faculty and motivated students collaborate in research, civic engagement, and the cultivation of independent thinking.