Merrill Scholars honor their mentors

Since 1988, the Merrill Presidential Scholars Program has honored Cornell University’s most outstanding graduating seniors, while also recognizing the teachers who have played a significant role in ensuring their success.

Each spring Merrill scholars are asked to recognize the high school teacher who impacted their early education and the Cornell faculty or staff member who contributed most significantly to their college experience. In a ceremony on May 24 in Willard Straight Hall, in person for the first time in two years, 42 senior scholars were honored along with their mentors.

This unique program was created by the late Philip Merrill ’55 and is made possible through annual support from the Merrill Family Foundation. Scholars are selected by deans of the university’s 10 undergraduate colleges and schools based on their outstanding scholastic achievement, their strong leadership and their desire to positively impact the world beyond Cornell.

“At the time [Rhodes] was concerned that Cornell got too caught up in going after the big research dollars, and had lost sight of the importance of teaching,” said Nancy Merrill Sullivan ’96, one of three Merrill children – all Cornell graduates – who support the program through the Merrill Family Foundation. “And he requested that the leadership of the university be at this luncheon as an annual reminder that teaching is as important as groundbreaking research, and that the two are not mutually exclusive.”

The two-hour ceremony included remarks from President Martha E. Pollack and Ryan Lombardi, vice president for student and campus life, and welcomed participants from 13 U.S. states as well as countries including Tanzania, Thailand, China and the Republic of Korea.

Read the full story "Merrill Scholars honor their mentors," on the Cornell Chronicle.