The Bogorad Award 2014

Every December the UVM chapter of Phi Beta Kappa—the Alpha of Vermont—selects a student or students to receive the Bogorad Award, which recognizes outstanding achievement in the liberal arts based on the academic record through the end of the sophomore year. The recipients were Sara Kelsey McGee and Brendan Thomas Hennessey. The award is named in honor of Samuel Nathan Bogorad, a longtime friend and affiliate of the Alpha of Vermont. Prof. Bogorad was elected to Phi Beta Kappa at Brown University in 1939. He joined the faculty at UVM in 1946. While in Burlington, he served for eight years as the chair of the English Department, and he held the Corse Professorship in English Language and Literature until his retirement in 1982. He remained an active member of the university family until his death in December 1993. For years Prof. Bogorad claimed for himself the privilege of bestowing Phi Beta Kappa keys on new initiates, thus being the first to congratulate them on the distinction they had achieved.

Sara is a Linguistics and Latin double major from Centennial, CO.  Some of her extracurricular activities include Linguistics Club President, Climbing Club Vice-President, Outing Club Leader, and Goodrich Classical Club member. After graduation from UVM, she hopes to further her graduate studies in historical linguistics.

Brendan, an Honors College student from Acton, MA, is a Geography major with minors in Geospatial Technology and Computer Science. Extracurricular activities have included intramural broomball, working as a teaching assistant for Geography 040, and being a member of Free2Be.  He is considering attending graduate school after graduation to study geographic information systems.