Gianna Sheffield Wins Miami University's President's Distinguished Service Award

2017 Apr 26

Miami University student Gianna Sheffield is one of 23 seniors to win this year's President's Distinguished Service Award.

The awards are presented each year to graduating seniors for their contributions to campus, the greater community and to higher education.

Gianna is completing her degree in computer science at Miami, where only 17% of her peers are women. When she heard about an idea to start an organization to change this paltry number, she immediately volunteered to lead the effort. The result was the Miami chapter of Girls Who Code, which works with 6th through 12th grade women to expose them to programming through a supportive and community-oriented environment. Through Gianna’s leadership, the club has already served 25 local students, with demand rising every semester. Gianna has worked to expand this opportunity well beyond our local school district, contacting teachers at high schools around the area, and the group has even had young women commuting from the Cincinnati and Dayton areas to participate. She has also moved well beyond exposing the young women to coding, working to increase self-confidence and creating a sense of community among the participants.

The winners are also awarded the Senior Service Leadership Award and wear a special medallion at commencement.

Sheffield, from Oakton, is earning a Bachelors of Science in Computer Science, Master of Computer Science majoring in Computer Science.

Miami University was 1 of only 5 universities in the nation to receive the Presidential Award in the 2012 President's Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll. In 2013, Miami received an honor roll placement with distinction. Miami has been named to The President's Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll every year since 2007.