B.S., biochemistry; music performance minor
Louisville, Ky.

Presentation Remarks:

Cullen, you came to Denison knowing exactly what you were seeking: a Biochemistry/Pre-Med major that allowed you to explore your career interests, and a music minor to develop your artistic side. What you discovered, in addition, was a world of other possibilities to advance yourself, your peers, and this college.

Your academic advisor writes, "it has been a privilege to hear Cullen talk through his strategy for 'owning his Denison education' and for making sure he explores every avenue of interest fully." That exploration reflects your intellectual skill as well as, your nominator writes, "a thoughtfulness of interaction in multiple settings." That thoughtfulness was apparent in your summer research last year, as you took a unique ethnomusicological approach to identifying native Ojibwa musical rhythmic structure, and so it will be this summer as you use microarray technology to develop a biomarker assay for single molecule recognition in early diagnosis of kidney and brain damage.

For all you have achieved academically, however, your nominators believe your greatest impact at Denison has come through your involvement in the campus community, whether as a member of Burpee's Seedy, a founding member of JAMBAND, a two-time June-O staffer, as vice chair of development for the Interfraternity Council, or four executive positions in Beta Theta Pi. One nominator points out that as president of your fraternity, you supported your chapter through a period of growth, maintaining the highest fraternity grade point average on campus, (and) worked with advisors, headquarters staff and campus offices to make certain the men in his chapter set the example of true Fraternity."

For all the praise your nominators declare, perhaps most impressive is the truly balanced levels of selfless dedication, maturity, and excellence you brought to your endeavors. As an advisor writes, "Cullen Marshall is a Denisonian who never seems burnt out or overstretched. He is a leader who has grown with every increasing responsibility and feels responsible to support the College community where his talents could serve in a broader context."

Cullen, next year, as you enter medical school at the University of Louisville, take with you this final thought of your nominator: you are "truly an example of what a liberal arts education and, more specifically, a Denison Experience can be."