10 Palo Alto Students Among Several Local National Merit Scholars

PALO ALTO - The 2016 National Merit $2500 scholarship winners were announced Wednesday, and Santa Clara Valley students are well represented on the list.

10 students from Palo Alto were honored by a panel of judges to have the "strongest combination of accomplishments, skills, and potential for success in rigorous college studies."

Cupertino had more students honored than any other medium-sized city in Silicon Valley, with 16 students cited, while Saratoga had 12 students honored.

Honors were given to 11 Sunnyvale students. Los Altos had five students honored, Santa Clara and Mountain View had three, and Los Gatos and Milpitas each claimed two National Merit scholars.

One student was honored from Campbell.

Here is the complete list of students named from Palo Alto, Los Altos, Mountain View and Milpitas:

• Audrey C. Cheng PALO ALTO 94306 - Probable career field: Chemistry - HENRY M. GUNN H. S., PALO ALTO
• Nathaniel F. Kau PALO ALTO 94303 - Probable career field: Engineering - PALO ALTO H. S., PALO ALTO
• Ivy Li PALO ALTO 94303 - Probable career field: Bioengineering - PALO ALTO H. S., PALO ALTO
• Anna H. Nakai PALO ALTO 94303 - Probable career field: Undecided - PALO ALTO H. S., PALO ALTO
• Robin Y. Peter PALO ALTO 94306 - Probable career field: Undecided - HENRY M. GUNN H. S., PALO ALTO
• Karunya Anantha Sethuraman PALO ALTO 94306 - Probable career field: Undecided - HENRY M. GUNN H. S., PALO ALTO
• Melinda Y. Wang PALO ALTO 94306 - Probable career field: Neuroscience - PALO ALTO H. S., PALO ALTO
• Katharine Hui-wen Woo PALO ALTO 94306 - Probable career field: Mathematics - HENRY M. GUNN H. S., PALO ALTO
• Nora B. Yagolnitser PALO ALTO 94303 - Probable career field: Psychology - MEIRA ACADEMY, PALO ALTO
• Emily Zhang PALO ALTO 94303 - Probable career field: Undecided - PALO ALTO H. S., PALO ALTO
• Anthony H. Chau LOS ALTOS 94024 - Probable career field: Biomedical Engineering - MOUNTAIN VIEW H. S., MOUNTAIN VIEW
• Danica M. Crowley LOS ALTOS 94024 - Probable career field: Finance - NOTRE DAME H. S., SAN JOSE
• Sophia H. Hartenbaum LOS ALTOS 94024 - Probable career field: Computer Engineering - LOS ALTOS H. S., LOS ALTOS
• Annie Kim LOS ALTOS 94024 - Probable career field: Medicine - MENLO SCHOOL, ATHERTON
• Sierra N. Townsend LOS ALTOS 94022 - Probable career field: Law - LOS ALTOS H. S., LOS ALTOS
• Ethan F. Goolish MOUNTAIN VIEW 94040 - Probable career field: Astronomy - MOUNTAIN VIEW H. S., MOUNTAIN VIEW
• Mark R. Treitel MOUNTAIN VIEW 94041 - Probable career field: Academia - KEHILLAH JEWISH H. S., PALO ALTO
• Kelyn D. Wood MOUNTAIN VIEW 94040 - Probable career field: Environmental Engineering - MOUNTAIN VIEW H. S., MOUNTAIN VIEW
• Vivek S. Bharadwaj MILPITAS 95035 - Probable career field: Computer Science - HARKER SCHOOL, SAN JOSE
• Misbah Surani MILPITAS 95035 - Probable career field: Bioinformatics - MILPITAS H. S., MILPITAS

Here is the complete list of students named from California.

The 2,500 Merit Scholar designees were chosen from a talent pool of more than 15,000 finalists in the 2016 National Merit Scholarship Program.

According to officials, the number of winners named in each state is proportional to the state’s percentage of the nation’s graduating high school seniors.

-image via ShutterStock