Joan Wry, assistant dean of Saint Michael's College, was awarded a Reverend Gerald E. Dupont Award from the graduating seniors of the class of 2009 at an awards banquet held May 12. Dupont Awards, named for former president of the college, Rev. Gerald E. Dupont, S.S.E., are given to persons who "demonstrate dedication to the ideals of courage, vision, devotion and faith upon which Saint Michael's College was founded," and are given "in recognition of outstanding contributions to the Saint Michael's community."
The 2010 Student Association Vice President Theresa Sullivan presented the award, saying "Joan Wry is the epitome of grace and style, blessed with nerves of steel and a heart of gold." The presenter said further, "She serves the students with both strength and gentleness and carries unstinting awareness of what is good and right in the world."
Dean Wry, a 1979 graduate of Saint Michael's, earned a master's degree in English from the University of Virginia and is a Ph.D. candidate in English at McGill University in Montreal. She was recognized as the top graduate student in that field at McGill this year. She was a lecturer in the Saint Michael's English department before becoming dean and continues to teach American literature occasionally. A varsity running star, Joan Wry was inducted into the Saint Michael's College Athletic Hall of Fame in 1997.
The presentation to Ms. Wry concluded with these words, "For the countless students you have served and for your supreme intelligent and elegant style of relating, we honor you today with the DuPont Award."
Saint Michael's College, founded in 1904 by the Society of St. Edmund and headed by President John J. Neuhauser, is identified by the Princeton Review as one of the nation's Best 368 Colleges. A liberal arts, residential, Catholic college, Saint Michael's is located just outside of Burlington, Vermont, one of America's top college towns and less than two hours from Montreal. As one of only 270 institutions nationwide with a prestigious Phi Beta Kappa chapter on campus, Saint Michael's has 2,000 full-time undergraduate students, some 500 graduate students and 200 international students. In recent years Saint Michael's students and professors have received Rhodes, Woodrow Wilson, Guggenheim, Fulbright, National Science Foundation and other grants, and Saint Michael's professors have been named Vermont Professor of the Year in four of the last eight years. The college is currently listed as one of the nation's Best Liberal Arts Colleges in the 2009 U.S. News & World Report rankings.