Honors her FMHS history teacher, Paul Muench, as having inspired her

Fayetteville native Danielle Clark was recently honored as a Merrill Presidential Scholar — an outstanding graduating senior at Cornell in the top 1 percent of her class. Each Merrill scholar is selected by their college deans for their intellectual drive, leadership abilities and potential to contribute to society.

Clark was one of only seven students recognized from the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.

Each scholar is also given an opportunity to recognize the high school teacher who most inspired his or her scholastic development and the Cornell faculty member who most significantly contributed to his or her college experience. Clark honored Paul Muench, her Fayetteville-Manlius High School history teacher, and Poppy McLeod in the Cornell Department of Communication.

To further honor the high school teachers chosen by the Merrill Presidential Scholars, a one-time, $4,000 scholarship is awarded in the teachers’ names to incoming Cornell freshmen or current students with financial need from the teacher’s high school or geographic area.

More information on Clark and the other Merrill Presidential Scholars can be found here: 2018 Merrill scholars honor their teachers, mentors.