High School Seniors From Lake Forest Win National Merit Scholarships

LAKE FOREST, IL — Two Lake Forest residents are among the first group of winners of National Merit scholarships.

Margaret Q. Chen, a Adlai E. Stevenson High School senior who plans to pursue a career in medicine, was awarded the National Merit Walgreen Co. Scholarship.

Devin T. Radzely, a senior at Lake Forest High School with a probable career field of design engineering, was awarded the National Merit Boeing Scholarship.

Green Oaks resident and Libertyville High School senior Nikhil V. Patel, who plans to pursue a career in academia, was also named one of about 1,000 winners of the corporate-sponsored scholarships offered by the Evanston-based nonprofit National Merit Scholarship Corporation, along with the pair of Lake Foresters.

The scholarships are awarded to students who advanced to the finalist level of the National Merit competition and include annual stipends ranging from $1,000 to $10,000 or single payments ranging from $2,500 to $5,000, according to National Merit.

Corporate-sponsored scholarships are reserved for children of workers at the approximately 136 sponsoring businesses, residents of areas the business operates or students who plan to pursue studies the sponsoring business seeks to promote.

According to National Merit, corporate sponsors have committed about $847 million to students during the scholarship's 67-year history.

Next month, the nonprofit is set to announce the winners of $2,500 cash scholarships. And in June and July announcements, National Merit will reveal the winners of college-sponsored scholarships.