The Medallion Awards are conferred each year by the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences to graduating seniors who have excelled in their major course of study during their undergraduate years at Villanova. The awards are typically given to the student with the highest GPA within their major, with the requirement that the GPA be at least 3.50 at the end of the Fall term preceding graduation. The medallion award for a major in Astronomy and Astrophysics is named after the Augustinian friar Fr. Edward Felix Jenkins, O.S.A. (1906-1991), who founded the Department of Astrophysics and Planetary Science.
Fr. Jenkins was ordained a priest of the Order of Saint Augustine in June 1931. He became an instructor in chemistry at Villanova University in 1935, while completing his doctoral work in chemistry. He received his doctorate in 1939. Following a lifelong passion for astronomy, Fr. Jenkins learned the art of lens grinding and telescope construction from close friend Edwin F. Bailey of the Franklin Institute of Philadelphia. The two constructed a telescope which was mounted in a make-shift observatory (a converted grain silo!) on top of Tolentine Hall. Due to Fr. Jenkins’ influence, the new Mendel Science Center, completed in 1961, was equipped with both a planetarium and an observatory and the University instituted a degree program in astronomy. Fr. Jenkins served as chairman of the Department until 1974, and continued as an active member of the Department until shortly before his death in 1991.
Recipients of the Jenkins Medallion Award:
1976 Laura F. Casswell
1977 David A. Turnshek
1978 Michael J. Acierno
1982 James Charles Lochner
1985 Donald Speranzini
1987 Kevin R. Garlow
1988 Sean M. Carroll
1991 Keith A. Scollick
1993 Brian Deeney
1996 James J. Marshall
1997 Nicholas Morgan
2002 Christopher S. Pilman
2003 Lisa M. Winter
2004 Joleen K. Miller
2006 Adric Riedel
2008 Nicholas P. Hollon
2009 Heather A. Stewart
2011 Jared W. Coughlin
2012 Janine Myzska
2013 Allyn Durbin
2014 Eduard Bachmakov
2015 Anna Marion
2016 John Ruby
2017 Marcus Katynski