The F.T. Kidder Medal is presented to the senior student who best exemplifies the qualities of character, leadership, and scholarship. It is named in honor of Fred T. Kidder, a graduate of the class of 1880 and the College of Medicine in 1883, who later served on the University of Vermont Board of Trustees. This year’s recipient is Soham Mehta (he/him).

Throughout his time as a Wildlife and Fisheries Biology major and Zoology minor, Soham Mehta has built a strong community on campus through many leadership positions. As the co-founder and the first president of the UVM International Student Club, and as a member of the Rubenstein School’s Inclusion, Diversity, Excellence, and Action (IDEA) committee, the Mumbai-native has helped lead the efforts to better understand and then develop better and careful inclusion of the school’s international community members.

In addition to his work in diversity and belonging at the university, Mehta has also served as president of the UVM Wildlife and Fisheries Society, as a member of the Asian Student Union and the BIPOC Environmental Collective, and as an undergraduate teaching assistant and Rubenstein Steward. 

During his undergraduate career, Mehta has held three international research internships: at the Wildlife Conservation Society in India, The Uban Owl Network in Chatur Hllu Lab in India, and as a Big-Cat & Wildlife Monitoring research intern in Kenya. These opportunities and his work as an undergraduate teaching assistant have helped Mehta build up his skills in adaptability, a key element of his academic and leadership success. “These collective experiences have been pivotal to my success as an undergraduate student at UVM,” he writes. “UVM is a place that nurtured my passion for wildlife, cultivated leadership, and fostered diverse connections, sculpting an inclusive journey of academic excellence and personal growth.”