Great Valley Student Among National Merit Scholarship Winners

The National Merit Scholarship Corporation has released the names of the first group of winners in the 61st annual National Merit Scholarship Program, and several local students are on the list.

Nine Chester County students won, including one from Great Valley.

More than 1,000 distinguished high school seniors have won corporate-sponsored National Merit Scholarship awards, financed by about 200 corporations, company foundations, and other business organizations, according to a news release.

Scholars were selected from students who advanced to the Finalist level in the National Merit Scholarship competition and met the criteria established by their scholarship sponsors.

Most of the awards are renewable for up to four years of college undergraduate study and provide annual stipends that range from $500 to $10,000 per year. Some provide a single payment between $2,500 and $5,000.

Recipients can use their awards at any regionally accredited U.S. college or university of their choice.

A full list of the Chester County winners is included below:

• Jerry Zhu (Berwyn), Conestoga - National Merit Pfizer Inc. Scholarship
• Christopher J. Bjornstad, Downingtown STEM Academy, AmerisourceBergen Corporation Scholarship
• Ray E. Schoonmaker, Downingtown STEM Academy, National Merit CSC Scholarship
• Kyle William Denton, Avon Grove - National Merit Siemens Scholarship
• Eric F. Wang, Great Valley - National Merit Bentley Systems Scholarship
• Austin J. Antonacci, Bayard Rustin - National Merit State Farm Companies Foundation Scholarship
• Brian E. Damerau, Devon Prep - National Merit Siemens Scholarship
• Noah J. Hertzler, West Chester East - National Merit McKesson Scholarship
• Alice Liu, Unionville - National Merit Metlife Foundation Scholarship

The following students attending schools in nearby Montgomery County were also honored:

• Emily Halpern, North Penn - National Merit Novo Nordisk Inc. Scholarship
• Michael B. Frye (of Jenkintown), Roman Catholic - National Merit Lockheed Martin Scholarship
• Hope Lu, Upper Merion - National Merit Bristol-Myers Squibb Company Scholarship
• Edward Lin (of Phoenixville), Spring-Ford - National Merit Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc. Scholarship
• Hannah Schmidt, Souderton - National Merit Pfizer Inc. Scholarship
• Brianna K. Heffernen (Blue Bell), Academy of Notre Dame De Namur, National Merit - The PWC Charitable Foundation Scholarship
• Richard Y. Zhang (Dresher), Upper Dublin - National Merit Astrazeneca Pharmaceuticals Scholarship
• Lina Shi (Flourtown), Plymouth-Whitemarsh - National Merit Bristol-Myers Squibb Company Scholarship
• Sean Fox (Huntington Valley), Lower Moreland - National Merit Edward J. Keating Scholarship
• Matthew McGinnis (Huntington Valley), Lower Moreland - National Merit Edward J. Keating Scholarship
• Sophie K. Gaddes (St. David's), Agnes Irwin School - Amerisource Bergen Corporation Scholarship
• Brenden G. Sosnader (Worcester), La Salle College - National Merit Nationwide Insurance Foundation Scholarship

Over 1.5 million juniors in some 22,000 high schools entered the 2016 National Merit Scholarship competition when they took the 2014 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test, which served as an initial screen of program entrants, according to the organization.