San Ramon Students Win Corporate-Sponsored National Merit Scholarships

SAN RAMON, CA — Three San Ramon students received corporate-sponsored National Merit Scholarship awards. Finalists are either children of employees, residents of the communities served by the companies, or plan to pursue college majors or careers the companies wish to encourage.

The students were among 830 high school seniors nationally who received scholarships from 124 companies nationally. In September, more than 16,000 semifinalists were selected on the basis of their PSAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test scores. To advance to the finalist round, semifinalists needed to have an outstanding academic record, be endorsed or recommended by a high school official, and earn SAT or ACT scores that confirm their qualifying test performance.

The awards range from $1,000 to $10,000 per year, and most are renewable for up to four years at an accredited college or university.

Below are the finalists’ names, schools, scholarship names, and probable career fields. Alexandra Macri and Krishiv Srujan Manyam live in San Ramon, but attend school elsewhere.

• Josiah Chen, Dougherty Valley High School, National Merit Grumman Scholarship, neuroscience.
• Alexandra Macri, Carondelet High School, National Merit Battelle Scholarship, education.
• Krishiv Srujan Manyam, Quarry Lane School, National Merit Nvidia Corporation Scholarship, computer science.
• Michael Pham, Dougherty Valley High School, National Merit Northrop Grumman Scholarship, pharmacy.
• William Piggott IV, California High School, National Merit Battelle Scholarship, law.

Chen, Pham, and Piggott are three of five SRVUSD students granted awards. Emre Ferman and Sofia Fernandez of Monte Vista High School also received awards.

"We are incredibly proud of these five exceptional students,” SRVUSD Superintendent CJ Cammack said in a statement. “They exemplify the strength of our schools, the support of our community, and the limitless potential of our youth. We celebrate their hard work and the opportunities these scholarships will unlock for their futures.”

Winners of the National Merit $2500 Scholarships will be announced May 7, and the winners of college-sponsored Merit Scholarships will be announcedJune 4 and July 14. By the end of the 2025, more than 6,930 students nationwide will have earned National Merit Scholarships totaling approximately $26 million, according to the National Merit Scholarship Corporation.