Hopkinton High School senior Jianing Huang was named a winner of a corporation-sponsored National Merit Scholarship, part of the first group of winners in the 71st annual National Merit Scholarship Program.

Scholars were selected from students who advanced to the finalist level in the National Merit Scholarship competition and met criteria of their scholarship sponsors. Corporate sponsors provide National Merit Scholarships for finalists who are children of their employees, who are residents of communities the company serves or who plan to pursue college majors or careers the sponsor wishes to encourage.

Most of these awards are renewable for up to four years of college undergraduate study and provide annual stipends that range from $1,000 to $10,000 per year. Some provide a single payment between $2,500 and $10,000. Recipients can use their awards at any regionally accredited U.S. college or university of their choice.

Huang, who expressed an interest in studying quantitative analysis, will receive a scholarship sponsored by Schneider Electric North America Foundation.

Youssif wins WPI award

Worcester Polytechnic Institute senior Mena Youssif was awarded the university’s Salisbury Prize. A civil engineering major, Youssif was one of 27 undergraduate students (out of a class of more than 1,200) who were selected by their departments to receive this award.

The Salisbury Prize was instituted in 1871 by Stephen Salisbury, a 19th century businessman and philanthropist who was one of the founders of WPI. Salisbury, who also served as president of the board of trustees, established the award to recognize outstanding members of the senior class “who have faithfully, industriously and with distinguished attainment” completed all course and project requirements for the bachelor’s degree.

“These students exemplify the spirit of WPI,” said professor Arthur C. Heinricher. “WPI is more than an academically elite university; from the moment our students set foot on this campus, we challenge them to use their intelligence and their abilities to solve problems and help people around the world. In addition to their exceptional coursework, each recipient of a Salisbury Prize has done outstanding work in all three of WPI’s required projects, one in the Humanities and Arts, one addressing a problem at the intersection of science and technology with human need, and one in their major area of study. These students have helped make WPI a better place to study and work.”

Local collegians honored

The University of Massachusetts Amherst recently announced its dean’s list recipients for the fall semester. Hopkinton residents on the list are: Jahan Bahri, Thierry Barbosa, Ailene Barry, Marc Beauvais, Matthew Beauvais, Virendra Bhawsar, Joshua Blangeard, Sean Brown, Caleb Burke, Olivia Carrazza, Owen Champlin, Shivali Chandrasekar, Gabriella Ciri, Zoe Coelho, Aiden Colleary, Ciara Cross, Kyla Crum, Ryan Darbhanga, Anna DeMarco, Peter DeMichele, Brody Feldmann, Farzad Ferdous, Elias Ghodrati, Norah Heling, Elizabeth Herlihy, Reese Hunter, Drishti Jaiswal, Aditya Jhalavat, Grace Joseph, Eva Katyan, Catherine Kelleigh, Liam Keohane, Mansa Khambay, Shanzay Khan, Shritan Kondaveti, Ashwin Kondreddy, Shrija Kumar, Prapti Kuvadia, Naomi Lambert, Thomas Lotti, Shiqiao Luo, Lilia Lyadova, Piyusha Majgaonkar, Grace Marino, Aniketh Mikkilineni, Emily Miller, Laura Mosher, Keira Murphy, Kanav Nagpal, Neha Ninan, Samuel O’Brien, Bianca Pal, Ava Pappalardo, Alice Potapov, Tarun Prasanna, Ankitha Rajesh, Vidya Ramakrishna, Harriet Rankin, Goutham Reddy, Michaela Reilly, Isabella Resteghini, Julian Rivard, Sophie Sabouny, Aaditya Saini, Ana Scalora, April Scannevin, Benjamin Scott, Esha Shah, Pranav Sheelvant, Lauren Strechay, Srihitha Sunkara, Li Sutherland, Nevaeh Tamba, Parth Tare, Sean Thapa, Harini Thatigutla, Izael Thomas, Eric Touzjian, Autumn Tumbleton, Madeline Ullman, Nithi Vankineni, Justin Vaughn, Charan Vijay, Divya Virmani, Sophie Weeden, Demyana Youssif and Evan Yurewicz. …

At Emerson College, Kara Diune and Merin Rhodes were named to the dean’s list. …

Liza Nicole Marszalek was awarded a doctor of chiropractic degree from National University of Health Sciences.

Editor’s note: Information for college honors is provided by the schools. Those interested in being included in this section should forward the official notification or request for the school to email it to editor@hopkintonindependent.com.

Polar Plunge raises $14K

The second annual Polar Plunge, organized by the Best Buddies program at Hopkinton High School and Hopkinton Middle School, raised more than $14,000, the group announced.

In addition to students, the principals from both schools participated.