20 Students Named Davidson Fellows and Receive $50,000, $25,000 and $10,000
Scholarships
WASHINGTON, Aug. 13 /PRNewswire/ -- Recent research by The Thomas B.
Fordham Institute concludes that many high-achieving students do not receive
the support to reach their full potential. However, 20 young people named as
2008 Davidson Fellows exemplify the extraordinary work that can be achieved by
students who are given opportunities to excel.
From a plan to create alternative energy from wastewater, to a promising
treatment for HIV, the accomplishments of the Davidson Fellows, who range in
age from 12 to 17, are a testament to effective teaching and mentoring,
supportive families and individual determination. Based on their achievements
in the fields of science, technology, mathematics, music, literature,
philosophy and "outside the box," these 20 students will receive $50,000,
$25,000 and $10,000 scholarships from the Davidson Institute for Talent
Development, a national nonprofit organization headquartered in Reno, Nev.
that supports profoundly gifted youth.
"We are thrilled to recognize the 2008 Davidson Fellows not only for their
incredible projects, but also for the journey they forged to reach this
point," said Bob Davidson, co-founder of the Davidson Institute. "Each year
the breadth and depth of Fellows' accomplishments overwhelm us. With
nurturing, gifted students will be among those who will solve the world's most
vexing problems, now and in the future."
The 2008 Davidson Fellows have accomplished important work in a variety of
subjects, such as:
-- Invented a new type of solar panel;
-- Designed a computer model to aid physicians in patient diagnosis;
-- Bridged the relevance of classical music to younger generations;
-- Improved the mathematics of digital signal representations used in
cell phones and music players; and
-- Discovered a technology to more effectively treat breast cancer.
Each 2008 Davidson Fellow has worked tirelessly to obtain the resources
that enable them to make advances in their fields. Unfortunately, not all
gifted students get the support they need according to the Fordham Institute's
study, "High Achieving Students in the Era of NCLB" released in June. The
findings show that top pupils have "languished" academically. In addition, a
national teacher survey found that while most teachers believe all students
deserve equal attention, advanced pupils are a lower priority in their
schools, receiving dramatically less attention than low-achievers. View the
full report at http://www.edexcellence.net.
"Our goal is to not have any student left behind," said Jan Davidson,
Ph.D., co-founder of the Davidson Institute. "We applaud the tenacity of these
and other profoundly gifted children, who often take it upon themselves to
gather the resources they need to succeed."
In addition to creating the Davidson Institute in 1999, Bob and Jan
Davidson are co-authors, with Laura Vanderkam, of Genius Denied: How to Stop
Wasting Our Brightest Young Minds (http://www.GeniusDenied.com). In 2006 the
Davidsons opened The Davidson Academy of Nevada, a free, public school for
profoundly gifted students on the campus of the University of Nevada, Reno
(http://www.DavidsonAcademy.UNR.edu). For more information on the Davidson
Institute, or to learn more about the 2008 Davidson Fellows, please visit
http://www.DavidsonGifted.org/Fellows.
2008 Davidson Fellow Laureates
$50,000 Scholarships
-- Mr. Akhil Mathew, 16, Madison, N.J.
-- Mr. Sikandar Porter-Gill, 17, Gaithersburg, Md.
-- Miss Christine Shrock, 17, Setauket, N.Y.
-- Mr. Philip Streich, 17, Platteville, Wis.
-- Mr. Conrad Tao, 14, New York, N.Y.
2008 Davidson Fellows
$25,000 Scholarships
-- Mr. Michael Cherkassky, 16, Minneapolis, Minn.
-- Miss August Siena Thomas, 17, Montague, Mass.
-- Miss Hilda Huang, 12, Palo Alto, Calif.
-- Miss Jasmine Miller, 17, Nashville, Tenn.
-- Miss Saraswathi Shukla, 17, Princeton, N.J.
-- Mr. Vijay Venkatesh, 17, Laguna Niguel, Calif.
-- Mr. William Yuan, 12, Portland, Ore.
-- Mr. Charles Zhang, 17, Rochester, Mich.
$10,000 Scholarships
-- Mr. Nathan Georgette, 17, Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.
-- Miss Molly Hensley-Clancy, 16, Minneapolis, Minn.
-- Mr. Kyle Hutzler, 16, Huntingtown, Md.
-- Mr. Michael Leap, 17, Okemos, Mich.
-- Miss Divya Nag, 17, El Dorado Hills, Calif.
-- Miss Avanthi Raghavan, 17, Orlando, Fla.
-- Miss Sarah Waliany, 16, Arcadia, Calif.
Available Topic Expert(s): For information on the listed expert(s), click
appropriate link.
Bob and Jan Davidson
http://profnet.prnewswire.com/Subscriber/ExpertProfile.aspx?ei=31043
SOURCE Davidson Institute
Sarah Hiller of Widmeyer Communications, +1-202-667-0901 [Eastern Time],
sarah.hiller@widmeyer.com, for Davidson Institute; or Julie Dudley of Davidson
Institute, +1-775-852-3483, ext. 424 [Pacific Time],
jdudley@davidsongifted.org
