Auburn University senior from Birmingham wins Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award

Rachael Gamlin, an Auburn University senior studying political science and journalism, received the Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award at the annual President's Luncheon on April 19.

The national honor has been presented at Auburn since 1951 as a reminder of the noblest human qualities exemplified by Algernon Sydney Sullivan, a prominent humanitarian and first president of the New York Southern Society, now the Algernon Sydney Sullivan Foundation. Each year, Auburn bestows the honor on a student from the graduating class.

Gamlin, a Birmingham native, has served in several student leadership roles during her time at Auburn including fundraiser facilitator, secretary and president of the Committee of 19, Auburn's student-led War of Hunger initiative; secretary of the Campus Kitchen Project; and the 2014-2015 president of the College of Liberal Arts. In May, Gamlin will graduate with Suma Cum Laude honors.

After graduation, Gamlin will move to France to teach English at a school outside of Paris through the Teaching Assistant Program in France. She is minoring in French at Auburn. In fall 2017, she will attend the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies in Washington, D.C.

The luncheon also featured the presentation of the W. James Samford Jr. Memorial Scholarship to Joshah Cass. The award is named in memory of James Samford, a 1972 Auburn alumnus and member of the Auburn Board of Trustees from 1987 until his death in 2003.

The President's Award and W. James Samford Jr. Foundation Award recognizes one graduate in each school or college who has completed at least three semesters at Auburn with a minimum grade point average of 3.40, and possesses outstanding qualities of leadership, citizenship, character and promise of professional ability.

This year's 14 honorees are Ben Wilton Brinkerhoff, Katherine Elizabeth Lynch, Sagar Rajesh Leva, Emily Catherine Ebner, Christina Marie Pickering, Scott Robinson McClure, Jun Yao, Sarah Nicole Plantz, Sydney M. Batson, Danielle Farideh Guy, Elizabeth Anne Wood, Chloe Sutton Chaudhury, Adriana Isabel Larsen and Thomas H. Poole.