TI announces 2016 Junkins National Merit Scholarship winners

Since its inception in 1996, TI has awarded 367 Junkins Merit Scholarships, amounting to more than $1.3m.

Brian Crutcher, Executive Vice President, Texas Instruments, commented: "These students have demonstrated a passion for excellence and a remarkable work ethic. Their academic accomplishments and other talents set them apart, and their engagement in the community is a real testament to their interest in making a difference in the world. We are proud to support them as they move to the next phase of their education, and we look forward to seeing what they will achieve in the future."

Seventeen of the students honoured for their academic achievements this year are from North Texas:

• Varad Agarwala of Plano, Greenhill School;
• Jiaming Chen of Dallas, Plano West Senior High School;
• Robert Crawford of Allen, Allen High School;
• Carolyn Guan of Plano, Texas Academy of Math & Science;
• Caroline Hao of Plano, Plano West Senior High School;
• Milan "Lyndie" Ho of Highland Village, Edward S. Marcus High School;
• Casey Hu of Plano, Plano West Senior High School;
• Tiasha Joardar of Plano, Plano West Senior High School;
• Alice Liu of Southlake, Carroll Senior High School;
• Allen Mathew of Lewisville, Hebron High School;
• Hailey Modi of Plano, Texas Academy of Math & Science;
• Patrick Ondrusek of Richardson, Plano East Senior High School;
• Paige Rigsby of Garland, Garland High School;
• Abel Sen of Frisco, Liberty High School;
• Si Qi Tong of Plano, Plano West Senior High School;
• Kevin Wu of Plano, St. Mark's School of Texas; and
• Heather Xiao of Dallas, Hockaday School.

The honorees from other states are:

• Rachel Chae of Alpharetta, GA, Johns Creek High School;
• Matthew Chan of Freemont, CA, Irvington High School;
• Vineet Kosaraju of Saratoga, CA, Harker High School;
• Jocelyn Liu of Palo Alto, CA; Henry M. Gunn High School;
• Gordon McCulloh of Kennebunk ME, Maine School of Science and Math; and
• Andrew Xi of Chandler, AZ, Corona Del Sol High School.

Each year, less than 1% of high school seniors nationwide achieve the status of National Merit Scholarship Program Semifinalist. Students are selected for the awards based on their scores on the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test, academic record, leadership abilities, writing skills and extracurricular activities. To become a finalist, each semifinalist must complete a detailed scholarship application, which includes writing an essay and providing information about extracurricular activities, awards and leadership positions. Semifinalists must also have an outstanding academic record, be endorsed and recommended by a high school official and earn SAT scores that confirm their qualifying test performance.

TI funds these scholarships in partnership with the National Merit Scholarship Corporation, a private, not-for-profit organisation.

The awards are named for Jerry Junkins, who became TI's chairman in 1988 and served until his death in 1996. His passion for education helped create model Head Start programmes in the Dallas area. He was also chairman of the Citizens Council Education Committee and fought for education reform in Texas schools by promoting measurement and accountability in the classroom.