Ten Indian American Students Named Presidential Scholars

By Richard Springer, Staff Reporter

 India West

Ten Indian American students were named May 6 among 141 Presidential Scholars, the nation’s highest honor for graduating high school seniors.

They are: Hema V. Pingali, Randolph School, Owens Cross Roads, Ala.; Aneri C. Pattani, Cheshire High School, Cheshire, Conn.; Nivedha Ram, Acton-Boxborough Regional High School, Boxborough, Mass.; Anish Athalye, Massachusetts Academy of Math & Science, Shrewsbury, Mass.; Vineet Aggarwal, St. Andrew’s Episcopal School, Ridgeland, Miss.; Maneesh D. Apte, Davies High School, Fargo, N.D; Anjali K. Lall, Davies High School, Fargo; N.D.; Raghav Tripathi, Westview High School, Portland, Ore.; Apoorva Dixit, White Station High School, Collierville, Tenn.; and Keyur M. Mehta, Westlake H.S., Austin, Texas.

“Presidential Scholars demonstrate the accomplishments that can be made when students challenge themselves, set the highest standards and commit themselves to excellence,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan in a statement.

 

“I’m honored to celebrate their creativity, hard work, and community service, and I encourage them — and all students — to continue to showcase the capacity for greatness in our nation’s young people.”

The Commission on Presidential Scholars makes the final selection of the nation’s Presidential Scholars. One male and one female student are selected from each state, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and from families of U.S. citizens living abroad.

In addition, up to 15 students chosen at large and the Presidential Scholars Commission selects up to 20 Presidential Scholars in the arts for a total of 141 Presidential Scholars.

A ceremony will be held June 16 in Washington, D.C., when each honoree will receive a Presidential Scholar Medallion.

There were 48 South Asian American students among the approximate 550 high school students named Presidential Scholar semifinalists.

About 3,900 students nationwide were identified as candidates for the program based on performances on ACT or SAT college admissions tests.

The other Indian American semifinalists by state were:

Alabama: Sushmitha R. Yarrabothula, Hoover High School, Hoover.

Arizona: Rajan U. Sheth, Hamilton H.S., Chandler; Saisanjana Kalagara, Corona del Sol H.S., Tempe.

California: Ankit Bhatia, Amador Valley H.S., Pleasanton.

Connecticut: Kashish Hora, Glastonbury H.S., Glastonbury; Vishakha Negi, Trumbull H.S., Trumbull.

Florida: Rohan Batra, American Heritage School Plantation, Davie; Anish R. Khanorkar, Lake Mary H.S., Longwood.

Georgia: Monica N. Agrawal, Chamblee H.S., Atlanta; Kayuri M. Bhimani, Peachtree Ridge H.S., Lawrenceville.

Illinois: Divya M. Shanmugam, Naperville North H.S., Lisle; Kirthi S. Bellamkonda, Naperville Central H.S., Naperville.

Maryland: Anuj Khandelwal, Gilman School, Severna Park.

Massachusetts: Arun G. Rangarajan, West

wood H.S., Westwood.

Michigan: Karthik Munugala, Novi H.S., Novi; Akhil S. Nistala, Novi H.S., Novi; Hirsh Jain, International Academy, West Bloomfield.

New Hampshire: Priyanka G. Satpute, Nashua Senior H.S North, Nashua.

New Jersey: Neil Chitrao, West Windsor-Plainsboro H.S. South, Princeton Junction; Saachi K. Gupta, Millburn H.S., Short Hills.

North Carolina: Nivedita Sankar, Durham Academy Upper School, Chapel Hill; Sreeraahul Kancherla, Marvin Ridge H.S., Waxhaw.

Ohio: Siddharth Mandava, Aurora H.S., Aurora; Aravind G. Kalluri, North Olmsted H.S., North Olmsted; Aditya Nair, Solon H.S., Solon. Mitesh P. Mehta, Western Reserve Academy, Warren.

Oregon: Ankit Gupta, Westview H.S., Portland; Naomi C. Shah, Sunset H.S., Portland.

Pennsylvania: Dhruv A. Pillai, Harriton H.S., Narberth; Shubham Chattopadhyay, Lawrenceville School, Newtown.

Tennessee: Sukriti Mohan, Saint Mary’s Episcopal School, Cordova.

Texas: Anjali Bhatla, Science Academy of South Texas, Harlingen; Punya Chittajallu, Plano East Senior H.S., Plano.

Virginia: Saumil Bandyopadhyay, Maggie L. Walker Governor’s School, Glen Allen; Avinash Ramesh, Thomas Jefferson H.S. for Science & Technology, Great Falls; Sachith Gullapalli, Hidden Valley H.S., Roanoke; Nalini M. Singh, Thomas Jefferson H.S. for Science & Technology, Vienna; Sumedha S. Deshmukh, Princess Anne H.S., Virginia Beach.

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