A University Medal is one of several types of award conferred by

universities A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

upon outstanding students or members of staff. The usage and status of university medals differ between countries and between universities.

As award on graduation

Many universities award University Medals to the top

undergraduate Undergraduate education is education conducted after secondary education and before postgraduate education. It typically includes all postsecondary programs up to the level of a bachelor's degree. For example, in the United States, an entry-lev ...

students upon graduation each year.

Australia

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, the University Medal is usually awarded upon completion of

Honours degrees Honours degree has various meanings in the context of different degrees and education systems. Most commonly it refers to a variant of the Undergraduate education, undergraduate bachelor's degree containing a larger volume of material or a high ...

based on academic merit. The criteria for bestowing the University Medal are stringent. The number of medals awarded might also be limited. For example, the

University of New South Wales The University of New South Wales (UNSW), also known as UNSW Sydney, is a public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is one of the founding members of Group of Eight, a coalition of Australian research-intensive ...

' medal policy states: "it is expected that only in exceptional circumstances would there be more than one Medal for a particular specialisation". The usual criterion is very high marks across all the subjects undertaken in the 4-year Honours degree. In some universities, the University Medal is treated as a distinct division or class of the Honours degree ("First class Honours and University Medal"). It is rare, but possible, for a student to receive two University Medals, by winning a Medal in each of two undergraduate degrees or majors within a degree. For example, Australian politician and judge

H. V. Evatt Herbert Vere Evatt, (30 April 1894 – 2 November 1965) was an Australian politician and judge. He served as a judge of the High Court of Australia from 1930 to 1940, Attorney-General and Minister for External Affairs from 1941 to 1949, and l ...

won University Medals in

Philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

and

Law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...

from the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's si ...

, and Brian Anderson, the former President of the Australia Academy of Science and the

International Federation of Automatic Control The International Federation of Automatic Control (IFAC), founded in September 1957, is a multinational federation of 49 national member organizations (NMO), each one representing the engineering and scientific societies concerned with automatic c ...

, won University Medals in

Engineering Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...

and

Mathematics Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...

from the University of Sydney. Timothy Potts, Director of the J. Paul Getty Museum, won University Medals in

and

Archaeology Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

from the University of Sydney

Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

, Universities award medals, usually named in honor of a senior faculty member at annual convocations for those who have achieved academic merit.

United States

The University Medal is often awarded to the most distinguished undergraduate student upon graduation. In addition to stringent academic criteria, students are also judged on extracurricular activities, publications, and other qualities.

As award for service

In some universities, the University Medal is bestowed upon members of the university for their extraordinary contribution to the University. Such an award is often conferred upon retirement of a staff member.The Medals:Awards and Honours

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. *Indiana Universit ...

. Accessed 2007-05-02.

Notable University Medal winners

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public research university located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton encompasses seven teaching and research colleges, in addition to several national academies and ...

John Quiggin John Quiggin (born 29 March 1956) is an Australian economist, a professor at the University of Queensland. He was formerly an Australian Research Council Laureate Fellow and Federation Fellow and a member of the board of the Climate Change Aut ...

– Economist; Economics. * Jennifer Robinson – Lawyer; Law

Indira Gandhi Medical College Indira Gandhi Medical College and Hospital (IGMCH), formerly the Himachal Pradesh Medical College (HPMC), formerly known as Snowdown, located in Snowdown area of Lakkar Bazaar, is a state-owned medical college and hospital in Shimla in the stat ...

* Dr. Sunita Ravikumar - MD; Medicine

Indiana University Bloomington Indiana University Bloomington (IU Bloomington, Indiana University, IU, or simply Indiana) is a public university, public research university in Bloomington, Indiana. It is the flagship university, flagship campus of Indiana University and, with ...

Elinor Ostrom Elinor Claire "Lin" Ostrom (née Awan; August 7, 1933 – June 12, 2012) was an American Political science, political scientist and Political economy, political economist whose work was associated with New institutional economics, New Institutio ...

– Economist; Economics. *

Vincent Ostrom Vincent Alfred Ostrom (September 25, 1919 – June 29, 2012) was an American political economist and the Founding Director of the Ostrom Workshop based at Indiana University and the Arthur F. Bentley Professor Emeritus of Political Science. He an ...

– Economist; Economics.

Stony Brook University Stony Brook University (SBU), officially the State University of New York at Stony Brook, is a public research university in Stony Brook, New York. Along with the University at Buffalo, it is one of the State University of New York system's ...

Joe Nathan Joseph Michael Nathan (born November 22, 1974) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played 16 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the San Francisco Giants, Minnesota Twins, Texas Rangers, Detroit Tigers, and Chicago Cu ...

– Baseball player; Athletics.

University of Queensland , mottoeng = By means of knowledge and hard work , established = , endowment = A$224.3 million , budget = A$2.1 billion , type = Public research university , chancellor = Peter Varghese , vice_chancellor = Deborah Terry , city = B ...

Joshua Gans Joshua Gans holds the Jeffrey Skoll Chair in Technical Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto. Until 2011, he was an economics professor at Melbourne Business School in Australia. His research ...

– Economist; Economics * Patrick Keane – Justice of the High Court of Australia; Law.

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's si ...

* Sir

Edmund Barton Sir Edmund "Toby" Barton, (18 January 18497 January 1920) was an Australian politician and judge who served as the first prime minister of Australia from 1901 to 1903, holding office as the leader of the Protectionist Party. He resigned to ...

– first Prime Minister of Australia and Justice of the High Court of Australia; Classics. * Sir

Garfield Barwick Sir Garfield Edward John Barwick, (22 June 190313 July 1997) was an Australian judge who was the seventh and longest serving Chief Justice of Australia, in office from 1964 to 1981. He had earlier been a Liberal Party politician, serving as a ...

– Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia; Law. * Sir

John Cornforth Sir John Warcup Cornforth Jr., (7 September 1917 – 8 December 2013) was an AustralianBritish chemist who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1975 for his work on the stereochemistry of enzyme-catalysed reactions, becoming the only Nobel l ...

– Organic chemist and Nobel Prize Winner in Chemistry; Chemistry. * "Doc" Evatt – Politician and judge; Philosophy and Law. * Emeritus Professor Hans Freeman – Bio-inorganic chemist and protein crystallographer; Chemistry. * Sir John Kerr – Judge and governor-general; Law. * Sir

Percy Spender Sir Percy Claude Spender (5 October 18973 May 1985) was an Australian politician, diplomat, and judge. He served in the House of Representatives from 1937 to 1951, including as a cabinet minister under Robert Menzies and Arthur Fadden. He was ...

– Jurist and politician; Law. * Major General Sir William John Victor Windeyer – Justice of the High Court and Privy Council *

Robert Sinnerbrink Robert Sinnerbrink is an Australian philosopher and Associate Professor of Philosophy at Macquarie University. He is an ARC Future Fellowship recipient and a former Chair of the Australasian Society for Continental Philosophy (2007-2010). Sinn ...

; Australian philosopher and Associate Professor of Philosophy at Macquarie University; Philosophy. *

Geordie Williamson Geordie Williamson (born 1981 in Bowral, Australia) is an Australian mathematician at the University of Sydney. He became the youngest living Fellow of the Royal Society when he was elected in 2018 at the age of 36. Education Educated at Che ...

; – FRS, FAA; mathematician; Geometric Representation Theory; Director of the Sydney Mathematical Research Institute

References

{{authority control Universities in Australia Academic awards

As award on graduation

Australia

Sri Lanka

United States

As award for service

Notable University Medal winners

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public research university located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton encompasses seven teaching and research colleges, in addition to several national academies and ...

Indira Gandhi Medical College Indira Gandhi Medical College and Hospital (IGMCH), formerly the Himachal Pradesh Medical College (HPMC), formerly known as Snowdown, located in Snowdown area of Lakkar Bazaar, is a state-owned medical college and hospital in Shimla in the stat ...

Indiana University Bloomington Indiana University Bloomington (IU Bloomington, Indiana University, IU, or simply Indiana) is a public university, public research university in Bloomington, Indiana. It is the flagship university, flagship campus of Indiana University and, with ...

Stony Brook University Stony Brook University (SBU), officially the State University of New York at Stony Brook, is a public research university in Stony Brook, New York. Along with the University at Buffalo, it is one of the State University of New York system's ...

University of Queensland , mottoeng = By means of knowledge and hard work , established = , endowment = A$224.3 million , budget = A$2.1 billion , type = Public research university , chancellor = Peter Varghese , vice_chancellor = Deborah Terry , city = B ...

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's si ...

See also

References