CEE and Purdue University Announce Team USA 2011
Top Four U.S. Biology Students to Compete at the Premier International Biology Olympiad in Taiwan
McLean, Va. – June 21, 2011 - The Center for Excellence in Education (CEE) announces the four top scoring students who earned gold medals at the USA Biology Olympiad national finals which took place at Purdue University. These students will represent the United States as Team USA at the 2011 International Biology Olympiad (IBO) in Taiwan, Chinese Taipei.
The students are:
- Charles H. Du, University of Chicago Laboratory Schools, Chicago, IL
- Rebecca Shi, West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South, West Windsor, NJ
- Chelsea Voss, Cupertino High School, Cupertino, CA
- Shulin Ye, Texas Academy of Mathematics and Science, Denton, TX
Du, Shi, Voss and Ye were awarded gold medals based on their theoretical and laboratory scores during the ninth annual USA Biology Olympiad National Finals.
"The Center for Excellence in Education is proud to send four outstanding young scholars to represent the United States in the International Biology Olympiad," said Joann DiGennaro, President of the Center for Excellence in Education.
Team USA 2011 will compete at the IBO from July 10-17. They will be accompanied by Coaches Kathy Frame of CEE and Dr. Scott Mills of Purdue University. They will travel as guests of Korean Air, the official Airline of the USA Biology Olympiad.
Silver medal winners this year are Victoria Cui of Liberal Arts and Science Academy High School in Austin, TX; Lei "Jerry" Ding of The Charter School of Wilmington in Wilmington, DE.; Jeffrey Wang of Rockford Auburn High School in Rockford, IL; and Fred Yu of Westford Academy in Westford, MA.
Winning bronze medals are Alexander Briese of Montgomery Blair High School in Silver Spring, MD; Nikhil Buduma of Bellarmine College Preparatory in San Jose, CA; Russell Islam of Mira Loma High School in Sacramento, CA and Jing "Raymond" Liu of Mission San Jose High School in San Jose, CA.
The other 2011 USA Biology Olympiad National finalists and their home states are:
- California: Angela Chen, Henry M. Gunn Senior High School, Palo Alto; Nhi Ho, Santa Monica High School, Santa Monica; Audrey Huang, Mission San Jose High School, San Jose; and David Shabsovich, Santa Monica High School, Santa Monica.
- Illinois: Jonathan Pan, Naperville Central High School, Naperville.
- New Jersey: Lauren Chung, Glen Rock High School, Glen Rock.
- Texas: Dong “Jonathan” Hyug Lim, James E. Taylor High School, Katy.
- Virginia: Min Cheol Kim, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science & Technology, Alexandria.
Finals for the top 20 students were held for the second year at Purdue from June 5-17. Representing eight states, the twelve male and eight female students were chosen from 10,500 students nationally based on their scores from the USA Biology Olympiad open and semifinal exams.
During their two weeks at Purdue, the finalists participated in intensive theoretical and practical tutorials, working with experts in the fields of cellular biology, microbiology, biotechnology, plant anatomy and physiology, animal anatomy and physiology, ethology, genetics and evolution, ecology, and biosystematics. The students were guided by professors from Purdue.
All Team USA Members have medaled since the United States first began competing at the IBO in 2003, garnering a total of 23 gold, 7 silver and 2 bronze medals. All four members of Team USA earned gold medals at the 2007, 2008, and 2009 IBO competitions. Three members of Team USA earned golds in 2010 IBO.
The USA Biology Olympiad is jointly sponsored by the Center for Excellence in Education, a 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization based in McLean, Virginia and Purdue University.
###
The Center for Excellence in Education was founded in 1983 by the late Admiral H.G. Rickover and Joann P. DiGennaro, president of the Center. The Center's mission is to nurture young scholars to careers of excellence and leadership in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, and to encourage collaborations between and among leaders in the global community. CEE sponsors the Research Science Institute (RSI) and the USA Biology Olympiad (USABO). For more information about the Center and its programs, visit CEE’s Web site, www.cee.org
Sources:
- Kathy Frame, 571-228-0098, Email Kathy
- Center for Excellence in Education: http://www.cee.org
College of Science: http://www.science.purdue.edu
Discovery Park: http://www.purdue.edu/dp
Click here to read this article in PDF.