U.S. Department of Education Announces 161 Students to be Honored as 2023 U.S. Presidential Scholars

U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona today announced the 59th class of U.S. Presidential Scholars, recognizing 161 high school seniors for their accomplishments in academics, the arts, and career and technical education fields.

The White House Commission on Presidential Scholars selects scholars annually based on their academic success, artistic and technical excellence, essays, school evaluations and transcripts, as well as a demonstrated commitment to community service and leadership.

Of the 3.7 million students expected to graduate from high school this year, more than 5,000 candidates qualified for the 2023 awards determined by outstanding performance on the College Board SAT or ACT exams or through nominations made by chief state school officers, other partner recognition organizations and YoungArts, the National Foundation for the Advancement of Artists.

As directed by Presidential Executive Order, the 2023 U.S. Presidential Scholars are comprised of one young man and one young woman from each state, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, and U.S. families living abroad, as well as 15 chosen at-large, 20 scholars in the arts and 20 scholars in career and technical education. 

Created in 1964, the U.S. Presidential Scholars Program has honored over 8,000 of the nation’s top-performing students. The program was expanded in 1979 to recognize students who demonstrate exceptional talent in the visual, literary and performing arts. In 2015, the program was again extended to recognize students who demonstrate ability and accomplishment in career and technical education fields.

The Presidential Scholars Class of 2023 will be recognized for their outstanding achievement this summer with an online recognition program.

A complete list of 2023 U.S. Presidential Scholars follows and is also available at http://www.ed.gov/psp.

Scholars for the U.S. Presidential Scholars Program —May 2023

* Scholar for U.S. Presidential Scholar in Arts.
** Scholar for U.S Presidential Scholar in Career and Technical Education.

• AK – Anchorage – Jackson Powell Church, Bettye Davis East Anchorage High School, Anchorage, Alaska.
• AK – Anchorage – Lillian Yang, West Anchorage High School, Anchorage, Alaska.
• AL – Calera – Stanley Jerome Stoutamire Jr., John Carroll High School, Birmingham, Alabama.
• AL – Mountain Brook – Sophia Li, Mountain Brook High School, Mountain Brook, Alabama.
• Americans Abroad – Beijing, China – Ashley Zhou, Paul’s School, Concord, New Hampshire.
• Americans Abroad – Tumon, Guam – Jin Z. Chung, John’s School, Tumon Bay, Guam.
• AR – Conway – Neil Sash, Episcopal Collegiate School, Little Rock, Arkansas.
• AR – Little Rock – Sydney Elizabeth Massey, eStem High Public Charter School, Little Rock, Arkansas.
• AR – Little Rock – Mariam Tariq Parray, Pulaski Academy, Little Rock, Arkansas.
• AZ – Paradise Valley – Tyler Ming-Fei Tam, Phoenix Country Day School, Paradise Valley, Arizona.
• **AZ – Phoenix – Tej Sandeep Desai, Paradise Valley High School, Phoenix, Arizona.
• AZ – Phoenix – Rachana R. Gurudu, BASIS Scottsdale, Scottsdale, Arizona.
• *AZ – Tucson – Zakiriya Hilal Alem Gladney, University High School, Tucson, Arizona.
• *CA – Berkeley – Gavin Ray Trotmore, Berkeley High School, Berkeley, California.
• *CA – Castro Valley – Zoe Wijesekara Dorado, Castro Valley High School, Castro Valley, California.
• *CA – Irvine – Lauren Mei, Orange County High School of the Arts, Santa Ana, California.
• *CA – Los Angeles – Raisa B. Effress, Harvard-Westlake School, North Hollywood, California.
• *CA – Los Angeles – Fallon Carys Sungah Ryu-Dern, Harvard-Westlake School, North Hollywood, California.
• CA – Morgan Hill – Aaron Hieu Tran, Ann Sobrato High School, Morgan Hill, California.
• *CA – Newport Beach – Sophia Ann Rabin, Corona Del Mar High School, Newport Beach, California.
• CA – San Jose – Annmaria K. Antony, Harker School, San Jose, California.
• *CA – San Jose – Miranda A. Lu, Leland High School, San Jose, California.
• **CA – Sunnyvale – Sezen S. Musa, Adrian C. Wilcox High School, Santa Clara, California.
• *CA – Van Nuys – Alejandro T. Lombard, Harvard-Westlake School, North Hollywood, California.
• CA – Walnut Creek – Elane Kim, Stanford University Online High School, Stanford, California.
• CO – Colorado Springs – Dana Ko, Pine Creek High School, Colorado Springs, Colorado.
• **CO – Denver – Katherine Jordan Little, Thomas Jefferson High School, Denver, Colorado.
• CO – Westminster – Karthik Reddy, Fairview High School, Boulder, Colorado.
• CT – Riverside – Ambika Grover, Greenwich High School, Greenwich, Connecticut.
• CT – Wilton – Lukas Koutsoukos, Wilton High School, Wilton, Connecticut.
• DC – Washington – Sophia Hall, Holton-Arms School, Bethesda, Maryland.
• DC – Washington – Saul Villatoro, Francis L. Cardozo High School, Washington, D.C.
• **DE – Dover – Samra Iman Iqbal, Caesar Rodney High School, Camden, Delaware.
• **DE – Dover – Puiyee Kong, Caesar Rodney High School, Camden, Delaware.
• DE – Newark – Suhani Bhatt, Newark Charter School, Newark, Delaware.
• DE – Newark – Tatyana Rashid, MOT Charter School, High School Campus, Middletown, Delaware.
• DE – Wilmington – Carter B. Ross, Wilmington Friends School, Wilmington, Delaware.
• FL – Delray Beach – Kiran C. Spencer, American Heritage School Boca/Delray, Delray Beach, Florida.
• FL – Oviedo – Ishika Nag, Oviedo High School, Oviedo, Florida.
• FL – Palmetto Bay – Luke Linxiao Yang, Miami Palmetto Senior High School, Miami, Florida.
• **GA – Duluth – Sahil Sood, Lambert High School, Suwanee, Georgia.
• GA – Marietta – Jack Xu, George Walton High School, Marietta, Georgia.
• **GA – Suwanee – Aira Dani, Northview High School, Duluth, Georgia.
• GA – Watkinsville – Michelle Li, North Oconee High School, Bogart, Georgia.
• HI – Honolulu – Anabel Kinsey, Iolani School, Honolulu, Hawaii.
• HI – Honolulu – Holden Michael Schermer, Iolani School, Honolulu, Hawaii.
• **HI – Kaaawa – Vaeanui Paiarii Peck, Kahuku High School, Kahuku, Hawaii.
• IA – Cedar Rapids – Tejas Kishan Gururaja, Linn-Mar High School, Marion, Iowa.
• IA – Diagonal – Alaina Marie Whittington, Diagonal Jr-Sr High School, Diagonal, Iowa.
• **IA – Johnston – Eshaan S. Chandani, Johnston High School, Johnston, Iowa.
• IA – West Des Moines – Claire Gu, Valley High School, West Des Moines, Iowa.
• ID – Boise – Shiva Aaron Rajbhandari, Boise High School, Boise, Idaho.
• ID – Idaho Falls – Claire S. Yoo, Idaho Falls High School, Idaho Falls, Idaho.
• IL – Evanston – Emmet Jeremiah Ebels Duggan, Evanston Township High School, Evanston, Illinois.
• **IL – Naperville – Maxwell L. Neri, Waubonsie Valley High School, Aurora, Illinois.
• IL – Naperville – Yina Wang, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy, Aurora, Illinois.
• IN – Carmel – Archit Kalra, Carmel High School, Carmel, Indiana.
• IN – Carmel – Amogha Medha Paleru, Carmel High School, Carmel, Indiana.
• *IN – Fort Wayne – Bayan Yunis, Carroll High School, Ft. Wayne, Indiana.
• KS – Leawood – Elizabeth Rushing Place, Blue Valley North High School, Overland Park, Kansas.
• KS – Overland Park – Luke Wen-Tsu Chen, Blue Valley North High School, Overland Park, Kansas.
• **KY – Bardstown – Cecelia Ann Rogers, Nelson County High School, Bardstown, Kentucky.
• KY – Bowling Green – Beatriz Oliveira Antunes, South Warren High School, Bowling Green, Kentucky.
• KY – Russell – Arnav Dharmagadda, Russell High School, Russell, Kentucky.
• LA – Baton Rouge – Daniel Z. Liu, Baton Rouge Magnet High School, Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
• *LA – Ponchatoula – Khalil J. McKnight, Hammond High School, Hammond, Louisiana.
• LA – Shreveport – Ananya Bhatia, Caddo Parish Magnet High School, Shreveport, Louisiana.
• **MA – East Falmouth – Henry C. Knox, Upper Cape Cod Regional Vocational High School, Bourne, Massachusetts.
• MA – N. Chelmsford – Ranjana Ramesh, Central Catholic High School, Lawrence, Massachusetts.
• *MA – Wellesley – Katherine E. Liu, Wellesley High School, Wellesley, Massachusetts.
• MA – Westford – Sol Kim, Phillips Academy, Andover, Massachusetts.
• **MA – Worcester – Alijandro Ian Mendoza, Worcester Vocational High School, Worcester, Massachusetts.
• MD – Bethesda – Maya Naomi Lall, Holton-Arms School, Bethesda, Maryland.
• MD – Boyds – Andrew Z. Yuan, Poolesville Senior High School, Poolesville, Maryland.
• *MD – Manchester – Cassidy May Reigel, Baltimore School for the Arts, Baltimore, Maryland.
• ME – Falmouth – Patrick Michael Wahlig, Falmouth High School, Falmouth, Maine.
• ME – Falmouth – Coco Leqi Xu, Falmouth High School, Falmouth, Maine.
• MI – Bloomfield Hills – Adnan Mahir Khan, International Academy, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.
• MI – Portage – Simar Bhatia, Portage Central High School, Portage, Michigan.
• MN – Maple Grove – Stavya Arora, Maple Grove Senior High School, Maple Grove, Minnesota.
• MN – Maple Grove – Matthew Chen, Wayzata High School, Plymouth, Minnesota.
• **MO – Brunswick – Hannah N. Rice, Brunswick R-II High School, Brunswick, Missouri.
• MO – Farmington – Diep H. Phan, Farmington High School, Farmington, Missouri.
• MO – St. Louis – Max Yang, Ladue Horton Watkins High School, St. Louis, Missouri.
• MS – Hattiesburg – Madison G. Echols, Mississippi School for Mathematics & Science, Columbus, Mississippi.
• MS – Madison – Leo Mei, Madison Central High School, Madison, Mississippi.
• MT – Big Sky – Jessie Bough, Lone Peak High School, Big Sky, Montana.
• MT – Bozeman – Marten Cooper Hartshorn, Bozeman High School, Bozeman, Montana.
• NC – Chapel Hill – Clara Cecilia Brodey, East Chapel Hill High School, Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
• **NC – Harrisburg – Josiah Hailey Young, Hickory Ridge High School, Harrisburg, North Carolina.
• *NC – Kings Mountain – Georgia Elizabeth Greene, Cleveland Innovation Academy, Shelby, North Carolina.
• NC – Matthews – Nipun Gorantla, Marvin Ridge High School, Waxhaw, North Carolina.
• ND – Bismarck – Srinath B. Kandooru, Century High School, Bismarck, North Dakota.
• ND – Bismarck – Annelise Klein, Century High School, Bismarck, North Dakota.
• **ND – Grand Forks – Kaylee Mae Kirkeby, Grand Forks Central High School, Grand Forks, North Dakota.
• NE – Omaha – Abhirup Chandra Are, Millard North High School, Omaha, Nebraska.
• NE – Omaha – Sarah Jane Wood, Millard North High School, Omaha, Nebraska.
• NH – Dover – Aaron Joy, Phillips Exeter Academy, Exeter, New Hampshire.
• NH – Hanover – Sora S. Shirai, Hanover High School, Hanover, New Hampshire.
• NJ – Bridgewater – Andrew C. Noviello, Lawrenceville School, Lawrenceville, New Jersey.
• NJ – Cedar Knolls – Ian Liu, Packer Collegiate Institute, Brooklyn, New York.
• *NJ – Cherry Hill – Christopher Y. Shin, Cherry Hill High School East, Cherry Hill, New Jersey.
• NJ – Ho-Ho-Kus – Sebastián N. Anderson, Northern Highlands Regional High School, Allendale, New Jersey.
• NJ – Howell – Camryn Nicole Bartone, Freehold Township High School, Freehold, New Jersey.
• NJ – Mountain Lakes – Katherine Chen, Mountain Lakes High School, Mountain Lakes, New Jersey.
• NM – Los Alamos – Brian L. Han, Los Alamos High School, Los Alamos, New Mexico.
• NM – Rio Rancho – Emma Elizabeth Clayton, The ASK Academy, Rio Rancho, New Mexico.
• NV – Henderson – Troy Warren Harris, Clark High School, Las Vegas, Nevada.
• NV – Las Vegas – Amy Choi, The Meadows School, Las Vegas, Nevada.
• **NV – Las Vegas – Amy Park, West Career and Technical Academy, Las Vegas, Nevada.
• NY – Armonk – Samantha Maya Milewicz, Byram Hills High School, Armonk, New York.
• NY – Flushing – Samara Baksh, The Spence School, New York, New York.
• *NY – New York – George Porteous, The Dalton School, New York, New York.
• NY – Old Westbury – Kevin Zhu, Jericho Senior High School, Jericho, New York.
• NY – Oyster Bay – Sabrina Guo, Syosset High School, Syosset, New York.
• OH – Highland Heights – Pranav Sompalle, Mayfield High School, Mayfield, Ohio.
• OH – Mason – Sanjana M. Velu, William Mason High School, Mason, Ohio.
• **OH – West Chester Township – Jay G. Patel, Butler Tech Bioscience Center, West Chester Township, Ohio.
• OK – Bartlesville – Joyce Yang, Bartlesville High School, Bartlesville, Oklahoma.
• OK – Oklahoma City – Jeffrey Connor Evans, Casady School, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
• OK – Oklahoma City – Lindsay Flores, Western Heights High School, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
• OR – Albany – Caroline Xingyan Gao, West Albany High School, Albany, Oregon.
• OR – Portland – Rishab K. Jain, Westview High School, Portland, Oregon.
• PA – Chester Springs – William L. Pan, Downingtown High School-East Campus, Exton, Pennsylvania.
• *PA – West Chester – Vibha Janakiraman, PA Leadership Charter School, West Chester, Pennsylvania.
• PA – Wynnewood – Hannah Gao, Harriton High School, Rosemont, Pennsylvania.
• PR – Dorado – Alia Sofia Marrero-Alttar, John’s School, San Juan, Puerto Rico.
• PR – Dorado – Jose Antonio Puig Camacho, Tasis School in Dorado, Dorado, Puerto Rico.
• RI – Cranston – Julia Martins, The Greene School, West Greenwich, Rhode Island.
• RI – East Greenwich – Cayetano Sanchez IV, East Greenwich High School, East Greenwich, Rhode Island.
• SC – Columbia – Cathy Tang, Spring Valley High School, Columbia, South Carolina.
• SC – Spartanburg – Cam Srivastava, Spartanburg Day School, Spartanburg, South Carolina.
• SD – Rapid City – Evelyn Violet Haar, Stevens Senior High School, Rapid City, South Dakota.
• SD – Sioux Falls – Andrew J. Nguyen, Sioux Falls Jefferson High School, Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
• TN – Sevierville – Mara Wren Klein, Gatlinburg-Pittman High School, Gatlinburg, Tennessee.
• TN – Thompsons Station – Nate Martinez, Independence High School, Thompson Station, Tennessee.
• *TX – Dallas – Zariyah M. Perry, Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing & Visual Arts, Dallas, Texas.
• *TX – Dallas – Cole Willis, Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing & Visual Arts, Dallas, Texas.
• TX – San Antonio – Hannah Guan, BASIS San Antonio Shavano Campus, San Antonio, Texas.
• TX – Spring – Zhuo Qi Chen, The Woodlands College Park High School, The Woodlands, Texas.
• TX – The Woodlands – Siddhu Pachipala, The Woodlands College Park High School, The Woodlands, Texas.
• UT – Salt Lake City – Michael Ogden Chen, Hillcrest High School, Midvale, Utah.
• UT – Salt Lake City – Priyanka Mathews, Hillcrest High School, Midvale, Utah.
• **UT – Salt Lake City – Aaron Wang, Skyline High School, Salt Lake City, Utah.
• *VA – Fairfax – Mira Iris Kim, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science & Technology, Alexandria, Virginia.
• VA – Fairfax – Teja Koduru, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science & Technology, Alexandria, Virginia.
• VA – Falls Church – Emily Ocasio, New School Northern Virginia, Fairfax, Virginia.
• VA – McLean – Emma E. Cox, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science & Technology, Alexandria, Virginia.
• VA – Vienna – Mayra Rios, James Madison High School, Vienna, Virginia.
• VT – Essex – Adowyn Mulligan Byrne, Essex High School, Essex Junction, Vermont.
• VT – Williston – Samuel John Yager, Champlain Valley Union High School, Hinesburg, Vermont.
• WA – Redmond – Lora Kwon, Redmond High School, Redmond, Washington.
• WA – Sammamish – Arihant Singh, Nikola Tesla Stem High School, Redmond, Washington.
• WI – Brookfield – Ananya Bhatt, Brookfield Central High School, Brookfield, Wisconsin.
• WI – Glendale – Ethan Mark Zentner, Nicolet High School, Glendale, Wisconsin.
• WI – Medford – Saskatoon Robert Fuzz Damm, Medford Area Senior High School, Medford, Wisconsin.
• WV – Lynco – Dalton S. Cook, Westside High School, Clear Fork, West Virginia.
• WV – Morgantown – Rania Zuri, Morgantown High School, Morgantown, West Virginia.
• **WV – Shinnston – Isabella Mackenzie Herrod, Liberty High School, Clarksburg, West Virginia.
• WY – Laramie – Audrey Su-Wai Yeung, Laramie High School, Laramie, Wyoming.
• WY – Sheridan – Cameron Nicholas Reckard, Sheridan High School, Sheridan, Wyoming.