Texas Instruments Awards 19 Scholarships To Outstanding Students

Since its inception in 1996, TI's Junkins Merit Scholarship program has awarded 304 scholarships amounting to more than $1.2 million.

The Junkins Scholars represent some of the best of the TI family. As we honor these students, we also recognize their parents who have contributed to our company's success and passed along to their children the work ethic and commitment to excellence that it takes to reach your goals, said Trisha Cunningham, TI chief citizenship officer, who presented the awards along with TI Senior Vice President Art George.

Congratulations to each of the nineteen students, George said. I am very excited to have the opportunity to speak to these bright young scholars. Their achievements in the realms of scholarship, leadership, community service and character are indicative of their high potential and leading indicators of their future success.

The 12 Texas students honored for their academic accomplishments this year are:

Avram Bukhbinder of Houston, Saint John's School; Xin (Shawn) Chen of Plano, Liberty High School; Ryan Duan of Lewisville, Coppell High School; Ben Fu of Plano, Plano Senior High School; Iris Hill of Denton, Billy C. Ryan High School; Brittany Irizzary of Sugar Land, I.H. Kempner High School; Mandaline Kam of Richardson, Trinity Christian Academy; Brian Kegerris of Plano, Trinity Christian Academy; Lisa Liu of Katy, Seven Lakes High School; Collin Nadarajah of Dallas, Cistercian Preparatory School; Kyle Smith of Sugar Land, William P. Clements High School; and Harrison Tran of Frisco, Liberty High School.

Honorees from other sites include Kevin Hong of Pleasanton, CA, Foothill High School; Mary Ma of San Ramon, CA, Dougherty Valley High School; Carolyn Oliver of Broomfield, CO, Broomfield High School; Katie Plaster of Whitefish Bay, WI, Whitefish Bay High School; Patrick Xiao of Saratoga, CA, Saratoga High School; Jason Xu of Shanghai, China, Concordia International School of Shanghai; and Ranfei (Anita) Xu of Groton, MA, Groton High School.

Each year, less than 1 percent of high school seniors nationwide achieve the status of National Merit Scholarship Program Semifinalist. Students are selected for the awards based on their scores on the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test, academic record, leadership abilities, writing skills and extracurricular activities.

TI funds the scholarships in partnership with the National Merit Scholarship Corporation, a private, not-for-profit organization.

Jerry Junkins became TI's chairman in 1988 and served until his death in 1996. His passion for education helped create model Head Start programs in the Dallas area. He was also chairman of the Citizens Council Education Committee and fought for education reform in Texas schools by promoting measurement and accountability in the classroom. Sally Junkins, the wife of the late Mr. Junkins, also assisted with the presentation of the awards.