Robert Cummings is the recipient of the 2021 Governor General’s Academic Silver Medal for the Faculty of Mathematics. Cummings, an Honours Computer Science and Combinatorics and Optimization student, will graduate this June with a BMath.
The Governor General’s Academic Silver Medal is an undergraduate-level award provided by the Office of the Governor General of Canada. Selections are guided by The Governor General’s Academic Medal Directives, which state that the Silver Medal is awarded to the undergraduate who achieves the highest academic standing upon graduation from a bachelor degree program.
Cummings obtained the top cumulative average of all students who finished in spring 2020, fall 2020, and winter 2021 at 97.7%. He also achieved the top Faculty average at 98.8%. His outstanding academic record includes 22 course grades of 100% and only one course grade below 90% (at 87%).
Joseph Cheriyan, a Waterloo Combinatorics and Optimization professor, affirmed Cummings’ commitment to academic excellence: “Robert’s transcript shows grades of 100% on nine of the most challenging 300-level and 400-level courses in Math and CS.” Professor Cheriyan has also co-authored two of the several academic articles and papers that Cummings has written over his undergraduate career, and noted that “Robert’s contributions were significant.”
While the Silver Medal criteria focuses on academic achievement, Cummings goes beyond the classroom to apply his knowledge. During his degree, he has been involved in organizing the Canadian Computing Competition (CCC) and Canadian Computing Olympiad (CCO). The CCC is a programming contest for high school students where top participants go on to the CCO, a week-long event held at the University of Waterloo.
Cummings has also had consistent success at the International Collegiate Programming Contest, arguably the most prestigious programming competition in the world for university students. He has represented the University of Waterloo several times at regional competitions, working on a team to solve complex programming problems.
The University of Waterloo is proud to present the Governor General’s Academic Silver Medal to such a dedicated student and involved Warrior. “Robert’s academic brilliance is complemented by his outstanding personal qualities; his mentoring and support of fellow students is noteworthy,” said Cheriyan.
Congratulations on this well-deserved accomplishment, Robert!