National Merit Scholarship winners announced

National Merit Scholarship Corporation recently released the names of the first group of winners in the 61st annual National Merit Scholarship Program.

More than 1,000 distinguished high school seniors have won corporate-sponsored National Merit Scholarship awards financed by about 200 corporations, company foundations, and other business organizations.

Scholars were selected from students who advanced to the finalist level in the National Merit Scholarship competition and met criteria of their scholarship sponsors. Corporate sponsors provide National Merit Scholarships for finalists who are children of their employees, who are residents of communities the company serves, or who plan to pursue college majors or careers the sponsor wishes to encourage.

Corporate-sponsored Merit Scholarship winners from Lake County and surrounding towns include:

• Nicholas A. Rodriguez of Barrington, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy, National Merit R.R. Donnelley & Sons Company Scholarship

• Reema M. Amin of Buffalo Grove, Adlai E. Stevenson High School, National Merit Walgreen Co. Scholarship

• Emery Liu of Buffalo Grove, Adlai E. Stevenson High School, National Merit Marsh & Mclennan Companies Scholarship

• Emma J. Willcocks of Glencoe, New Trier Township High School, National Merit Wrigley Scholarship

• Victoria S. Liu of Grayslake, Grayslake Central High School, National Merit AbbVie Inc. Scholarship

• David M. Stone of Green Oaks, Libertyville High School, National Merit Omron Scholarship

• Laura J. Judge of Gurnee, Warren Township High School, National Merit AbbVie Inc. Scholarship

• Haiwen Liu of Gurnee, Warren Township High School, National Merit AbbVie Inc. Scholarship

• Allen Yuan of Lake Bluff, Lake Forest High School, National Merit AbbVie Inc. Scholarship

• Jason T. Ji of Libertyville, Libertyville High School, National Merit AbbVie Inc. Scholarship

• Conor A. Fitzpatrick of Northbrook, Glenbrook North High School, National Merit Wrigley Scholarship

• Jiamin Huang of Palatine, William Fremd High School, National Merit Motorola Solutions Scholarship

• Shijie Li of Palatine, William Fremd High School, National Merit Motorola Solutions Scholarship

• Rohan Menon of Palatine, William Fremd High School, National Merit Northrop Grumman Scholarship

• Janani N. Sivakumar of Tower Lakes, Illinois Mathematics And Science Academy, National Merit Motorola Solutions Scholarship

• Adam J. Liu of Vernon Hills, Adlai E. Stevenson High School, National Merit Aon Scholarship

• Isaiah S. Liu of Vernon Hills, Vernon Hills High School, National Merit Alliance Data Scholarship

• Alexandra L. Spence of Vernon Hills, Vernon Hills High School, National Merit AbbVie Inc. Scholarship

Most of these awards are renewable for up to four years of college undergraduate study and provide annual stipends that range from $500 to $10,000 per year. Some provide a single payment between $2,500 and $5,000. Recipients can use their awards at any regionally accredited U.S. college or university of their choice.

Funding for these National Merit Scholarships is provided by corporate organizations that represent nearly all sectors of American industry. Sponsors from the business community have underwritten awards offered in all 61 competitions, expending or committing more than $750 million to support the intellectual development of the nation's scholastically talented youth.

More than 1.5 million juniors in some 22,000 high schools entered the 2016 National Merit Scholarship competition when they took the 2014 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test, which served as an initial screen of program entrants.

In September 2015, some 16,000 semifinalists were designated on a state-representational basis in numbers proportional to each state's percentage of the national total of graduating high school seniors. Semifinalists were the highest-scoring program entrants in each state and represented less than one percent of the nation's seniors.

To be considered for a National Merit Scholarship, semifinalists had to fulfill requirements to advance to finalist standing. Each semifinalist was asked to complete a detailed scholarship application, which included writing an essay and providing information about extracurricular activities, awards, and leadership positions.

Semifinalists also had to have an outstanding academic record, be endorsed and recommended by a high school official, and earn SAT scores that confirmed their qualifying test performance. From the semifinalist group, some 15,000 met finalist requirements.

By the conclusion of the 2016 competition, about 7,500 Finalists will have been selected to receive National Merit Scholarships totaling about $33 million. Winners are the finalist candidates judged to have the strongest combination of academic skills and achievements, extracurricular accomplishments, and potential for success in rigorous college studies.

NMSC, a not-for-profit organization that operates without government assistance, was established in 1955 to conduct the National Merit Scholarship Program. The majority of National Merit Scholarships offered each year are underwritten by some 440 independent corporate and college sponsors that support NMSC's efforts to honor the nation's scholastically talented youth and encourage academic excellence at all levels of education.

For information, visit www.nationalmerit.org.