Principal's Medal 2017: Johanna Ojamäe
Friday 23 June 2017
Congratulations to all our graduates.
I should now like to introduce the Principal’s Medal. This award was inaugurated eight years ago with a gift from three anonymous donors and is now supported by Ede and Ravenscroft, believed to be the oldest firm of tailors and robe-makers in the world.
The award of the Principal’s Medal recognises students who display exceptional endeavour and achievement during their time at St Andrews. The awards are open to final-year undergraduates, and to postgraduates in any discipline. The achievements celebrated are academic as well as sporting, musical, or other attainments.
I am delighted to have such a wonderful opportunity to recognise, publicly, the outstanding achievements of individual students.
For the academic year 2016-2017, the Principal’s Medal will be presented to three extraordinary students. This afternoon we recognise Johanna Ojamäe, who has just received her Bachelor of Science degree in economics and statistics.
Johanna was nominated to receive the Principal’s Medal because of her exceptional contribution to music at St Andrews, her inspiring commitment to helping others, and her determination to strive for academic excellence. Johanna has appeared on the Dean’s List for academic achievement three times, and her compassion and kindness towards a fellow student in need was recognized with the award of the Frotscher Medal for Helping Hands in 2015.
Away from her studies, Johanna has used her talents for leadership and organisation to share her love of music with the St Andrews community and around the world. She played a leading role in co-ordinating the Music Society’s popular lunchtime concerts, sang in the St Salvator’s Chapel Choir, and spent six weeks in rural Zambia teaching at Kazemba Primary School, during which time she set up a recorder club. In 2016, the University Madrigal Group’s 70th anniversary year, she organized a series of concerts and events in her native Estonia, described by a fellow group member as an “unforgettable” experience. She is an inspiration to her peers and a wonderful ambassador for the University. I wish her every success in her career, which I understand is to take her to London for a marketing role.
Johanna, in recognition of all that you have achieved both academically and personally during your time as an undergraduate, it gives me great pleasure to invite you to join me on stage now to receive your medal.
– Principal Sally Mapstone