Stanford Moore Prize Awarded
Every year, the last award given out at the high school's awards assembly is its most prestigious, the Stanford Moore Prize.
The prize was established by his classmates in honor of Stanford Moore '31, who won the Nobel Prize in chemistry in 1972. His PDS classmates wanted to recognize the graduating senior in each class who most nearly approached his talents as a student and thinker.
From Vince Durnan's remarks as he gave the prize to Jessie Baskauf this year:
We gather as a community of learners, maybe humbled by his example but conscious that Stanford Moore proved anything is possible from here. In that spirit, we tap a senior to carry that hope on behalf of each class. Think of the last four, still in college, and their habits of mind: Dylan Young, Coco Coyle, Mark Arildsen, and Kuan Peng. Now for their successor.
From Vince Durnan's remarks as he gave the prize to Jessie Baskauf this year:
We gather as a community of learners, maybe humbled by his example but conscious that Stanford Moore proved anything is possible from here. In that spirit, we tap a senior to carry that hope on behalf of each class. Think of the last four, still in college, and their habits of mind: Dylan Young, Coco Coyle, Mark Arildsen, and Kuan Peng. Now for their successor.
Maybe hardest at this point would be to identify this honoree’s strongest strength. A Governor’s School student, a Language Exam medalist, a Mathfax regular, a poet, and a committed musician. While no more fixated on grades than Stanford Moore was on prizes, our honoree garnered nearly two dozen A+ marks so far, indicative of teachers’ insistence solely on commending exemplary work, since they count no more than a regular, garden variety A in GPA terms. To be so good at everything keeps options open for later.
Soft spoken but always looking for the next challenge, our honoree combines life interest with school interests, honing skills and abilities that will make for a deeper appreciation of the beauty of sound and sight and intellect. At once self-aware and not self-conscious, our honoree demonstrates an Emersonian capacity to transcend and not to be different for different audiences. A penchant for languages reveals a wish to travel between fields and disciplines, whether in French and Spanish, visual arts media, science specialties, violin, voice, or piano. Only this mind could combine founding a creative math club with a culinary interest that made Mexican food a quantitative model of intersecting planes.
Join me in congratulating a self-starter, curious of mind and passionate of spirit, a citizen of all the academic countries that combine to make our curricular world, for academic achievement and dedication, our 2015 Stanford Moore prize recipient, Jessie Baskauf.
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Jessie will attend Carleton College.
Jessie will attend Carleton College.
More USN News
List of 3 news stories.
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USN graduates 98 plus 1 during Commencement
Seniors turned their tassels and graduated from University School of Nashville on Sunday, May 17, on the Back Lawn. Visit usn.org/classof2026 for more highlights from their last year on Edgehill and to learn what they will do next.Read More -
Spring sports season ends with podium finishes, trophies
The girls lacrosse team ended its season in overtime to become state runner-up. Tennis players Carter Kojetin '29 finished as a state quarterfinalist, Sophie Oliver '26 and Mary Kate Adler '28 finished as state semifinalists, and Veer Kodali '29 and Max Parker '29 finished as state champions. Meanwhile, eight runners competed at the state track and field meet in Knoxville, where Griffin Davidson '27, Caleb Freifeld '28, Drew Zwerner '28, and Jack Fruin '27, sprinted to first in the 4x800m relay and Jack also placed first in the 800m dash.Read More -
USN creates the Juliet Douglas Endowed Fund for Student Success
For the entire USN community: an invitation to give in gratitude, in celebration, and in honor of the woman who has given so much to our school. Make a gift at usn.org/giving to support students with needs beyond tuition and honor Interim Director Juliet Douglas.Read More
Contact
Edgehill Campus
2000 Edgehill Ave.
Nashville, TN 37212
Phone: 615-321-8000
Fax: 615-321-0889
Email: info@usn.org
River Campus
1200 County Hospital Road
Nashville, TN 37218
2000 Edgehill Ave.
Nashville, TN 37212
Phone: 615-321-8000
Fax: 615-321-0889
Email: info@usn.org
River Campus
1200 County Hospital Road
Nashville, TN 37218
USN Mission:
University School of Nashville models the best educational practices. In an environment that represents the cultural and ethnic composition of Metropolitan Nashville, USN fosters each student’s intellectual, artistic, and athletic potential, valuing and inspiring integrity, creative expression, a love of learning, and the pursuit of excellence.
University School of Nashville models the best educational practices. In an environment that represents the cultural and ethnic composition of Metropolitan Nashville, USN fosters each student’s intellectual, artistic, and athletic potential, valuing and inspiring integrity, creative expression, a love of learning, and the pursuit of excellence.