3 Bridgewater Students Chosen As 2017 U.S. Presidential Scholars Program Candidates

BRIDGEWATER, NJ — A total of 29 students in Somerset County including three from Bridgewater have been nominated as a US Presidential Scholar, a prestigious program that recognizing outstanding graduating high school students.

Bridgewater students included:

• Brian Chung, Bridgewater - Bridgewater-Raritan Regional High School
• Daniel Lu, Bridgewater - Bridgewater-Raritan Regional High School
• Daniel Z. Wang, Bridgewater - Bridgewater-Raritan Regional High School

Over 4,000 students were nominated nationally in recognition of their academic or technical skill. That list will be narrowed down to 800 in April, and a maximum of 161 will be honored in a May ceremony in Washington, D.C.

The U.S. Presidential Scholars Program was established in 1964, by executive order of the President, to recognize and honor some of our nation's most distinguished graduating high school seniors. In 1979, the program was extended to recognize students who demonstrate exceptional talent in the visual, creative and performing arts. In 2015, the program was again extended to recognize students who demonstrate ability and accomplishment in career and technical education fields.

You can see the full list of Somerset County students, ordered alphabetically, here:

1. Venkat R. Bhaskara, Belle Mead - Montgomery High School
2. Sarika Bhattacharjee, Belle Mead - Montgomery High School
3. Amy B. Che, Basking Ridge - Ridge High School
4. Timothy Chen, Basking Ridge - Ridge High School
5. Brian Chung, Bridgewater - Bridgewater-Raritan Regional High School
6. Yesh M. Datar, Belle Mead - Montgomery High School
7. Jonathan A. Fong, Somerset - Timothy Christian School
8. Austin Gao, Basking Ridge - Ridge High School
9. Akshina Gupta, Warren - Pingry School
10. Karthik Irakam, Warren - Watchung Hills Regional High School
11. Eric J. Jiang, Belle Mead - Montgomery High School
12. Sharon Jin, Basking Ridge - Gill Saint Bernard's School
13. Claire M. Jones, Basking Ridge - Ridge High School
14. Tharun Karipireddy, Hillsborough - Hillsborough High School
15. Rosey L. Li, Belle Mead - Montgomery High School
16. James C. Liu, Branchburg - Somerville High School
17. Daniel Lu, Bridgewater - Bridgewater-Raritan Regional High School
18. Joyce J. Lu, Hillsborough - Hillsborough High School
19. Ruchi R. Patel, Hillsborough - GED Certificate
20. Caroline M. Rucker, Warren - Watchung Hills Regional High School
21. Kritika Sekar, Basking Ridge - Ridge High School
22. Michelle L. Shui, Green Brook - Watchung Hills Regional High School
23. Daniel Z. Wang, Bridgewater - Bridgewater-Raritan Regional High School
24. Ruiyan M. Wang, Basking Ridge - Ridge High School
25. Madeline M. Wong, Basking Ridge - Ridge High School
26. Vivian Yi, Basking Ridge - Ridge High School
27. Andrew H. Zheng, Watchung - Watchung Hills Regional High School
28. Joyce Zhou, Green Brook - Watchung Hills Regional High School
29. Nicole Zhu, Basking Ridge - Ridge High School

(Image via U.S. Dept. of Education)

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