FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | May 18, 2016

Top 20 high school students compete for spot on U.S. Chemistry Olympiad Team

WASHINGTON, May 18, 2016 — Twenty of the nation’s top high school chemistry students have been named and they will compete for a spot on the U.S. Chemistry Olympiad Team, bound for the Eastern European nation of Georgia this summer. The announcement was made by the American Chemical Society, sponsor of the team.

These students emerged from a series of exams that involved more than 16,000 students across the country. Their next stop in qualifying for the U.S. team will be the Chemistry Olympiad Study Camp at the University of Mary Washington (UMW) in Fredericksburg, Virginia, May 31-June 15. This is the first year the camp will be hosted by UMW.  

During the camp, the students will receive college-level training, with an emphasis on organic chemistry, through a series of lectures, problem-solving exercises, lab work and testing. At the conclusion of the camp, the top four will represent the U.S. at the 48th International Chemistry Olympiad in Tbilisi, Georgia, July 23-August 1. There, they will compete with their peers from more than 70 nations for gold, silver and bronze medals.

The 20 finalists — 13 boys and seven girls — include a set of identical twins and three students from the same high school:

Cupertino, CaliforniaSteven LiuMonta Vista High School
Fremont, CaliforniaAnjali WaliaIrvington High School
Fremont, CaliforniaAnushka Walia*Irvington High School
Rowland Heights, CaliforniaJunyu YangTroy High School
San Diego, CaliforniaZilu PanCanyon Crest Academy
Yorba Linda, CaliforniaBenjamin NguyenValencia High School
Gainesville, FloridaLillian ZhuBuchholz High School
Hinsdale, IllinoisHarrison WangHinsdale Central High School
Lincolnshire, IllinoisEric QianStevenson High School
Carmel, IndianaMiles Jichuan*Carmel High School
Carmel, IndianaBrendan YapCarmel High School
Zionsville, IndianaAllen ZhangCarmel High School
Brighton, MichiganLily IretonBrighton High School
Princeton Junction, New JerseyShannon WengWest Windsor Plainsboro High School South
Marcellus, New YorkJeffery ShiMarcellus High School
Beavercreek, OhioBrian DanielsBeavercreek High School
Solon, OhioKevin Tang*Solon High School
College Station, TexasYusha SunA&M Consolidated High School
Houston, TexasAlex LiuThe Village School
Vienna, VirginiaJoyce TianThomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology

*participated in the 2015 study camp
**participated in the 2014 study camp

The American Chemical Society has sponsored the American team annually since the U.S. joined the Olympiad in 1984. Principal funding is through the ACS Donald F. and Mildred Topp Othmer Olympiad Endowment, with additional support from the Advanced Chemistry Development; Carolina Biological Supply Company; Cengage Learning, Fisher Science Education;  Flinn Scientific Inc.; Prentice Hall Publishers; Sigma Aldrich Co.; Texas Instruments Inc.; University Science Books, University of Mary Washington, and Wiley & Sons Publishers.

The American Chemical Society is a nonprofit organization chartered by the U.S. Congress. With nearly 157,000 members, ACS is the world’s largest scientific society and a global leader in providing access to chemistry-related research through its multiple databases, peer-reviewed journals and scientific conferences. Its main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio.

To automatically receive press releases from the American Chemical Society, contact newsroom@acs.org.

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