Taylor Kessler Faulkner, a computer science major, was awarded a President’s Medal by President Adam Weinberg in a ceremony that took place on Friday, April 15, in Swasey Chapel. The President’s Medal is the highest honor the college bestows on a student, given for academic success as well as for creating a legacy at Denison. Kessler Faulkner was one of only nine students to receive this honor.
In presenting the President's Medal to Kessler Faulkner, Professor of Philosophy and chair of the faculty Steven Vogel said of Kessler Faulkner, “Taylor, among many outstanding attributes, your nominators highlight your academic prowess and the persistence and tenacity with which you pursue solutions to problems, while maintaining an incredibly positive attitude. As a computer science major and a math and music double-minor, department fellow and tutor, you have demonstrated a passion for your disciplines that has inspired professors and peers alike. One professor tells of your joint summer research on a problem to do with query optimization in databases, which resulted in publication in one of the top-tier international conferences in databases - an impressive feat, as only one in five papers written by PhD students and faculty at research institutions is accepted. Your research experiences honed your interests in the areas of science and technology and contributed to your recent receipt of a prestigious National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship for your continuing studies in the areas of artificial intelligence and robotics. Your competition on the University Programming team reflects your dedication to and joy in problem solving at the highest level. Being on the winning team in 2013 at the Ohio Wesleyan University contest and placing sixth (out of 50) at the recent ACM regional contest help to distinguish Denison among a large group of institutions in the region. Your excellence as a computer scientist and mathematician has made you an ideal mentor for other women in the department and a leader in the Women in Math and Computer Science Group. Beyond your significant scholarly accomplishments in math and computer science, your artistic achievements as a musician have earned you the respect of faculty and your bandmates. You have been described as a 'terrific fiddler with a gift for both technique and expression, adding just the right nuance to your rhythm to make listeners dance or just the right wail to your tone to make them cry!' And you can sing too! Taylor, with this medal, we honor your commitment to the arts and sciences and know that you will excel in your studies of artificial intelligence and robotics.”
