 Xinran Liu
Oak Ridge High School, Oak Ridge, Tennessee
$25,000 Distinguished Award Recipient.
Xinran has a 4.25 cumulative GPA. He is taking a difficult class load that includes Advanced Placement Calculus BC, Advanced Placement Physics, and Honors Chemistry. His involvement includes President of the Oak Ridge High School Math Club, Piano, Violin, Science Bowl, Scholar's Bowl, Science Olympiad, Swimming, and Ecybermission. Xinran wants to pursue a physics degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and has won awards across the spectrum; MathCounts, University of Tennessee Pro2serve Math Contest, Science Olympiad, Science Bowl, Scholars Bowl, Swim Team, Piano, and Violin. Xinran has always been a straight A student in high school even while taking AP Calculus, AP Physics, Honors Chemistry, English, World History, and Orchestra. "Xinran is an incredible mathematician in the making and there is no limit on his curiosity, thirst for new challenges, and the pace at which he learns," said Benita Albert, Mathematics Department Chair, Oak Ridge High School.
 Michael Young
Skyline High School, Salt Lake City, Utah
$25,000 Distinguished Award Recipient
Michael is taking a rigorous class schedule including, AP Physics, AP US History, IB Math, Honors English, and Honors Chemistry. He wants to be mathematician. He placed first in his grade in the 2005 and 2007 Utah State Math contest. Also in 2007 he placed first in Utah on both the American mathematical Contest 10th and 12th grade exams. He studies Mandarin Chinese and belongs to the Chinese Society of Utah and with his interest in computer programming; he volunteered to create the website for that society and still maintains it. He is also the webmaster for the Cottonwood Heights Math Counts. Peter Trapa, associate professor of mathematics and faculty coordinator for Math Circle at the University of Utah, says "Michael is among the top 5 students I have seen and he would likely hold his own among entering math majors at Harvard or MIT, yet he is only a 10th grader."
 Siduo Jiang
Hanford High School, Hanford, Washington
$5,000 Distinguished Award Recipient
Siduo wants to pursue a biochemistry degree from Harvard University. Siduo participates in the Science Bowl, Ecology Club, Math Team; is a winner of the Distinguished Freshmen Award, Knowledge Bowl, and Recycling Club; and is a member of Mu Alpha Theta. Siduo has always been a straight A student in high school, even while taking Advanced Placement Biology, Advanced Placement Physics, Advanced Placement World History and Honors Pre-Calculus. And according to his AP Biology instructor and Science Department Chair, Dale Johns, Siduo's "potential for academic growth is unlimited and he is preparing himself for a successful career."
 Zachary Swenson
Riverton High School, Riverton, Utah
$5,000 Distinguished Award Recipient
Zachary was math and foreign language student of the year and has participated in many science fairs and always placed in the top 3. This year, he received the ASM award for best project in material science at the BYU Science and Engineering Fair for his project
on concrete additives. Last year, Zachary took summer classes to free up his school schedule for advanced science, math, and band classes at school in the fall. . His pre-calculus teacher says he would recommend Zachary for any academic award that he may apply.
 Ellen Bengtson
Richland High School, Richland, Washington
$2,500 Distinguished Award Recipient
Ellen intends to pursue a chemistry degree at Stanford University. She has been involved in math and science competitions since the 8th grade and has won several awards. She also was selected to be in the All-State Symphony Orchestra this school year and is a member of the swim team and tennis team. She is ranked first in her class out of 459 students and is enrolled in an on-line gifted youth program at Stanford University. "She may be the "once in a career" student every teacher hopes they will encounter, said Greg K. Fetrow, Ellen's chemistry teacher.
 Jacob Sorenson
Viewmont High School, Bountiful, Utah
$2,500 Distinguished Award Recipient
Jacob has a 4.0 cumulative GPA. Jacob is first in his class out of 569 students. Jacob wants to be an engineer and benefit the world around him. He is a member of the National Junior Honor Society, a participant in the state math test; he received "Math Student of the Year" Award and "Presidential Award for Educational Excellence." He is also a member of the swing dance club and a math tutor. His engineering design teacher calls him a model student.
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