The Office of Academic Affairs hosted a reception to recognize the outstanding achievement of first-year students during their first semester at MMC.
On Monday, February 6th, the Office of Academic Affairs hosted a reception to honor outstanding achievement by first-year students. Students invited to the celebration were in the top ten percent of their class based on their first semester GPA. As Interim Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the Faculty Katie LeBesco said when she welcomed students and their families, they are to be commended for this outstanding achievement. President Kerry Walk also congratulated them, sharing the words of Albert Einstein, who said, “It’s not that I’m so smart. it’s just that I stay with problems longer.” She acknowledged that Einstein – like the students we honored – was pretty smart but that he also had perseverance in the face of adversity. This, she said, is also an essential component of success.
Associate Professor of Psychology, Nava Silton also congratulated students and their families, urging them to keep up the great work. In her remarks on academic excellence, she underscored the importance of creativity and “thinking outside the box” for being an innovative problem solver. She talked about her own experiences with MMC students in her classes as they bring creative and innovative thinking to their projects in ways that continue to amaze her. She urged these outstanding students to continue doing so in their academic work and in their future careers.
This was a wonderful celebration and the faculty and staff who attended said that they look forward to watching these students continue to excel during their years at MMC.
Dunigan, a Research Supervisor of Integrated Genomics Operation at Memorial Sloan Kettering, spoke to a packed ‘Zoom room’ about her work developing coronavirus antibody tests.
