Medals of Distinction awarded
to 2 of UD's special friends

University seniors Thomas Pellathy and Matthew T. Schwartz received the 2001 Alexander J. Taylor Jr. Award, and Sherri L. Freeman received this year's Emalea P. Warner award May 4 during Honors Day ceremonies on the Newark campus. The awards are presented each year to the outstanding male and female seniors of the spring graduating class.

The Alexander J. Taylor Sr. Award is a $2,000 U.S. Savings Bond, awarded by the University of Delaware Alumni Association to the outstanding senior man who has demonstrated the qualities of scholarship, leadership, citizenship and character exemplified by Mr. Taylor, a dedicated and loyal friend of the University of Delaware.

The Emalea P. Warner Award is a $2,000 U.S. Savings Bond awarded by the University of Delaware Alumni Association to the outstanding senior woman who has demonstrated the qualities of scholarship, leadership, citizenship and character exemplified by Mrs. Warner, a champion of education in the state of Delaware.

Pellathy, from Latrobe, Pa., was recently named the University's 10th Rhodes Scholar. In December 2000, he earned a bachelor's degree in mathematics and philosophy, and he will obtain his master's degree in linguistics and cognitive science at spring Commencement. Pellathy has worked for the International Center for Migration Policy Development in Vienna, Sarajevo and Kosovo.

He also has worked with Guatemalan migrant workers in Georgetown, and is coauthoring a book exploring such immigration with Mark Miller, political science and international relations. In a related area, Pellathy was involved with a documentary film project for PBS exploring the impact of immigration on families in both Georgetown and Guatemala. While at Oxford University, he will study the relationship between development and international migration.

Schwartz, an honors student in accounting from Vernon, Conn., has maintained an overall 3.991 grade point average. He served as the president of the student board of the Hillel Student Center, where he developed and implemented programming and helped to promote the awareness of Jewish students on campus.

Schwartz has been co-president of the College of Business and Economics Student Advisory Board. He received the National Society of Accountants Scholarship, the College of Business and Economics Alumni Association Award, the PricewaterhouseCoopers Distinguished Student Award and the E. Wakefield Smith Accounting Prize. He also was chosen for the Accounting Panel of Distinguished Juniors.

Freeman, from Wilmington, is majoring in animal science with a concentration in agricultural biotechnology, as well as minors in biology and chemistry.

A Gates Millennium Scholar, Freeman is an African-American Student of Distinction, an MBNA Scholar, a Diamond State Scholar and a UD Agricultural Scholar. She is co-captain of the University of Delaware Marching Band Color Guard, a member of Alpha Zeta honor society, the Golden Key national honor society and the Mortar Board national honor society.

Freeman is president of the Minorities in Agriculture and Natural Resources and Related Sciences and served as the group's secretary and historian. She also is a Blue Hen Ambassador.

The three recipients' names will inscribed on a plaque located near the Alumni Room in the Perkin's Student Center. Continuing a UD tradition, the three will lead the procession of alumni delegates into Delaware Stadium on Saturday, May 26, at the beginning of the University of Delaware 152nd Commencement.

  Photos by Duane Perry and Kathy Flickinger