Graduating senior Ji Gu was one of 36 Cornell Seniors honored last May together with the high school and university teachers who made important contributions in their lives.
Each spring, the Cornell Merrill Residential Scholars Program honors the top 1 percent of the graduating class in a way that also honors their teachers in high school and faculty members at Cornell. Among the 2007 honorees is Ji Gu, a senior in ORIE from Suzhou, a city on the lower reaches of the Yangtze River in Jiangsu Province, China.
Each Merrill Scholar is asked to designate the high school teaacher who most inspired the Scholar's scholastic development, as well as the Cornell faculty member who most significantly contributed to his or her college experience. Ji Gu designated David Ruppert, the Andrew Shultz, Jr., Professor of Engineering in ORIE, and her high school teacher Yi Wu, from Suzhou Middle School. Ji and Cornell President Skorton are shown in the photo above, flanked by Ji's teachers.
Ji is currently in the Financial Institution Group at UBS Investment Bank, having deferred matriculation in the Master of Engineering program in order to work in industry. She chose Professor Ruppert for the Merrill honor because of "his help and advice that allowed me to handle seven 300-level and above classes and four leadership positions all in one semester."
The high school teachers are honored by a fund established by Donald and Margi Behrens, '47, which provides a scholarship in each teacher's name for a financially needy student from the teacher's geographical area, and makes it possible for the high school teacher to travel to Cornell for the awards ceremony.
The Merrill Presidential Scholars Program is made possible by funding from the late publisher and diplomat Philip Merrill '55, who died while sailing alone on the Chesapeake Bay in June, 2006.
Please see the Cornell Chronicle story for additional information on this year's award winners.
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