3 Northbrook Students Named National Merit Scholars

NORTHBROOK, IL — The National Merit Scholarship Corporation made its first of four announcement of this year's scholarship winners last week. Three Northbrook residents were among the more than 1,000 high school seniors awarded corporate-sponsored scholarships financed by about 160 companies, foundations and business organizations, according to the Evanston-based nonprofit.

The winners were selected from a group of finalists meeting the criteria of the scholarship sponsors. Corporations provide National Merit scholarships for finalists who are children of employees, residents of communities where the company does business or students who intend to pursue areas of academic study and careers that the sponsoring company wants to encourage, according to a release.

The corporate-sponsored scholarships range from annual stipends ranging from $500 to $10,000 to single payment awards of between $2,500 to $5,000. Over the 64 years of the National Merit competitions, corporate sponsors have spent or pledged more than $800 million to the program, it said.

The recipients of NMSC $2,500 scholarships will be announced May 8, and college-sponsored scholarship awards will be announced on June 5 and July 15. National Merit said it will award more than $31 million to about 7,600 high school seniors this year.

The following local students received corporate-sponsored scholarships from the National Merit Scholarship Corporation:

Wesley T. Chen, of Glenbrook North High School, intends to pursue a career in finance. He was awarded the National Merit Walgreen Co. Scholarship. The Deerfield-based drugstore chain offers awards to any child of one of its workers who qualifies as a National Merit finalist.

Noah J. Jon, of Glenbrook South High School, has a probable career field in aerospace engineering. He was awarded the National Merit Schneider Electric North America Foundation Scholarship. The Andover, Massachutsets-based energy management company sponsors 25 awards for children of its employees.

Alexander J. Youtsey, of Glenbrook North High School, plans on pursuing a career in economics. He was awarded a National Merit W.W. Grainger, Inc Scholarship. The Lake Forest-based industrial supplier provides 10 awards for children of employees.

Earlier: 12 Glenbrook South Students and 15 Glenbrook North Students Named National Merit Semifinalists

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