B.A., Philosophy; Saginaw, Mich.

Tamara Rae Carty, daughter of Colleen and George Carty of Hamlet Drive North, Saginaw, Mich., was among six Denison University seniors who were honored by President Dale T. Knobel as this year's "President's Medalists" during the University's annual Academic Awards Convocation on April 11. Carty is a 1999 graduate of Heritage High School in Saginaw.

President Knobel's presentation remarks:

"Tamara, we don't usually publicize scores and grades to prove the academic achievement of our students, but yours are irresistible. In your senior year of high school you received a perfect score of 800 on your SAT verbal, and recently on the LSATs you were ranked nationally in the 98th percentile.

"Your classroom performance at Denison has reflected your high aptitude: you have a perfect 4.0 in your philosophy major, and an overall Denison grade point average of 3.98. Who was that rogue professor who gave you the single A- in that course!? Your many letters of nomination are incantations of the formidable intellectual acumen you bring to the classroom and to your scholarship.

"One of your teachers remarks that, 'Those of us who have had Tamara in class speak of her with a kind of awe. Her native intelligence, the clarity of her mind, the limpid character of her philosophical writing, her ability to make her way almost effortlessly through the most complex of philosophical argumentation, are nothing short of amazing.' Another professor says that you are 'the best undergraduate writer of philosophy I've ever known,' and he marvels that as an undergraduate you so deftly wrestle to the ground the likes of Kierkegaard and Hegel.

"It is no wonder that you were selected in your junior year as a member of Phi Beta Kappa - the only one in that class to receive that honor - and that you were a state and regional finalist in the Rhodes and Marshall competitions. Nor is it a wonder that you have been accepted at the law schools of Harvard, Yale, and Stanford. While accomplishing all this, you were for three years a leading member of the Big Red swim team.

"You became a world-class swimmer and won a national record in the 500-yard freestyle. You are a six-time individual NCAA All-American, a three-time team All-American, a four-time individual National Champion, and an integral component of the remarkable Division Three National Championship in 2001.

"Tamara, we appreciate, applaud, and celebrate all these distinguished achievements during your time at our college, and we are most proud to call ourselves your alma mater."