Sarah Eisenlohr ’15 of Merion Station, Pennsylvania, remembers carrying a copy of D'Aulaires’ Book of Greek Myths with her everywhere when she was 7 years old. Her early love for classics led her to later accomplishments, including a recent Franklin Miller Award.
The Franklin Miller Award is an honor given to two students each semester who have made significant contributions to the academic environment at Kenyon. This past spring, Eisenlohr and Shariq Khan ’15 received the honor.
Professor of Classics Carolin Hahnemann nominated Eisenlohr for the award, noting that she co-organized a guest speaker to be invited by the Eta Sigma Phi classics honors society, arranged for a record number of students to take part in the national translation competition and tutored Latin students at the local high school.
With a degree in classics in hand, Eisenlohr has broad goals within the field. “I love being able to read Greek and Roman texts in their original languages, since so much is lost in translation,” she said. “I would like to try to help expand the view of classics to include other cultures.” This summer, Eisenlohr started teaching Latin at a middle school in Phoenix.
A history and Asian studies major, Shariq Khan ’15 from Lahore, Pakistan, was nominated for the award by Wendy Singer P’14, the Roy T. Wortman Distinguished Professor of History. Singer highlighted Khan’s work with leading Persian translator Richard Davis to translate the poetry of Amir Khusrow, a 13th century Persian poet from India. “The result will be the first English translation of this particular work,” Singer said. Khan also arranged for Davis to speak at Kenyon.
“I am most passionate about the pre-modern history of South Asia, especially wherever Persian language was the medium of communication,” Khan said.
Khan plans to return to Kenyon this fall in a different role, working for the College on a digitization project while he applies for graduate school programs in history.
The Franklin Miller Award was established by Edward T. “Chip” Ordman ’64 in honor of Franklin Miller Jr., a renowned physicist and longtime professor. Chosen by Provost Joseph Klesner and Dean of Students Henry “Hank” Toutain based on faculty nominations, each winner receives a $250 credit at the College Bookstore.