The President's Medal is awarded annually to the senior who exemplifies the ideal Grinnell student.

To be considered for the award, a student must:

• Reach and maintain superior scholarship while a Grinnell student.
• Demonstrate leadership in activities that credit the student and add to the College's stature.
• Conduct matters with poise and maturity.
• Be fair and willing to accept responsibility.
• Think before acting and understand before judging.

The President's Medal was redesigned in 1993 by Sheena Brown Thomas '71, a designer/goldsmith with Elements Ltd. in Des Moines, Iowa. The previous medal was designed by the late Louis Glenn Zirkle, professor of art.

Thomas also designed the first Archibald Prize Medal, which is compatible in design with the President's Medal. Both medals are adaptations of the President's Medallion, which is worn by the president of the college as an emblem of office at all Grinnell academic ceremonials and when the president officially represents the College at academic occasions elsewhere.

Cast and fabricated from silver, both medals are formed in a soft triangular shape and include the Grinnell College seal.

The seal uses a modified oval design enclosing four laurel leaves and the founding date: 1846. Raised letters surrounding the laurel leaves proclaim, "Collegium Iowense Grinnelli" and "Veritas et Humanitas" -- Latin for "Truth and Humility." The honoree's name is engraved on the back.