PRESS RELEASE
The University of Nevada, Reno has named English (writing) and anthropology student Allison Monterey Blair the recipient of the Spring 2018 Herz Gold Medal for having earned the highest grade-point average, a 4.0.
The Herz Gold Medal will be presented to Blair for her outstanding scholarship during the University’s Saturday morning Spring Commencement ceremony, May 19.
“College was a discovery experience for me,” Blair said. “Although I was interested in writing in high school, I knew coming into college that I did not want to write creatively as a profession, as the pressure to write sapped my passion for it. But, I figured writing would be a useful skill in any field, so I entered UNR as an English major. From there, experiences like hiking Half Dome and meeting enthusiastic mentors shaped my future.”
Blair was the president of the Art of Living Club, a member of the College of Liberal Arts Student Advisory Board and a member of the Outdoor Adventures Club. She minored in museum studies and historic preservation, and, grew up in Washoe Valley, Nevada.
“During the summer of 2015, I got to travel abroad to Ireland for a bioarchaeology field school,” she said. “Essentially, that means I learned to excavate human remains while living on a prison island. In addition, I solved a 200-year-old diagnostic mystery during a group research project.”
After returning from her summer studies, Blair received the Nevada System of Higher Education Regents Undergraduate Scholar Award for her work.
“Certainly, my most amusing campus memory was during my freshman year,” Blair said. “There was a pseudo-Renaissance Faire held in front of Canada Hall. Well, my roommate and I both owned Tudor dresses, which I had sewn for us during high school. We were pretty much the only ones dressed up, but we put on quite a show jousting each other in our giant dresses.”
