Taylor DePaolo-Daily ’26, a digital media journalism student in the College of Arts and Sciences, is a 2026 recipient of the Belle K. Ribicoff Prize, awarded each year to honor students for academic excellence, intellectual curiosity, and originality of thought.
DePaolo-Daily has focused on sports production for four years to such an extent that reviewing her college tenure can almost be mistaken for evaluating an actual career. It is no surprise to all who know her—faculty, students, and broadcast professionals alike—that DePaolo-Daily has been honored with a Ribicoff Prize.
She has made it a personal goal to take on as many responsibilities as possible and build trust along the way as a pathway toward her professional goals. DePaolo-Daily has stated in the past that there is no difference in importance or hard work between something as simple as writing an email to support a department initiative and running the student television network. Every task is vital.
“Taylor is a shining example of what university students today should be. As her professor and advisor, I am well aware of her excellent work ethic and positive demeanor,” says Susan Cardillo, associate professor of digital media and journalism in the College of Arts and Sciences. “Because of her work, I have made her a trainer, project lead, and class assistant. Students look up to her. She is passionate about her work, which is obvious in her preparedness and follow-through.”
As general manager of the student television network, DePaolo-Daily dedicated much of her effort to creating a work-and-study environment that encouraged students to take chances by assuming new challenges. Among her other significant projects were organizing a trip for dozens of students to the National Association of Broadcasters event in New York City, convincing executives at NBC Sports and World Wrestling Entertainment to commit to panel discussions at UHart, and bringing advanced broadcast technologies to campus.
She was also a member of the Yale Athletics broadcast team for three years and worked more than 130 games as a director, technical director, and producer. In those roles, she mentored a dozen UHart students. She also won two engineering Emmy Awards along the way.