Andrew Klein recently graduated as valedictorian from West High School in Iowa City, IA. With an SAT score of 1600, he will be attending Yale University to major in Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry. While in high school, he completed advanced math and science courses at the University of Iowa, as well as ten Advanced Placement classes. He served as captain of Mu Alpha Theta (Math Club) for two years, and he placed first in the Midwest regional math championship for three consecutive years. He was awarded a Center for Excellence in Education $10,000 Scholarship to attend the 21st Research Science Institute (RSI) at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in 2004. During the six-week program, he conducted original research in the Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering at Caltech. He was selected as a Siemens Westinghouse Competition semi-finalist, as well as an Iowa Junior Science and Humanities Symposium (JSHS) regional finalist. This past year, he was privileged to teach a review course at his high school to prepare students for the AP Chemistry exam, which he had taken the year before. This summer, he worked at McGill University's Laboratory for Biomedical Informatics, Imaging, and Spectroscopy. Andrew has diverse other interests. He was President of the French Club and served on the Executive Board of Amnesty International. He is also an accomplished classical pianist and yoga enthusiast. After college, he plans to pursue a PhD and a career as a research professor.

Acceptance Speech

I would like to extend my sincere gratitude to the Sino American Pharmaceutical Association for honoring me with its 2005 scholarship. Since Yale University does not offer any merit-based aid, the SAPA scholarship will help ease my family's financial burden and lead me on the path to achieving my academic and career goals. As a future research professor, I look forward to working in partnership with my colleagues in education and in industry to improve global health. In my professional life, I will also welcome the opportunity to join SAPA and participate in its conferences, so that I can combine expanding my scientific knowledge with maintaining a link to my Chinese heritage.

Chi Nguyen , an incoming freshman at Stanford University, plans to major in environmental engineering and minor in international relations. She attended California High School in San Ramon, CA, where she was involved in numerous clubs, founded a successful recycling program, and led the Mock Trial team. She has played piano for fourteen years and has used her musical abilities to hold fundraiser events, raising more than $45,000 for street children in Vietnam over the past seven years. She loves reading, acting, singing, practicing tae kwon do, and learning how to ballroom dance. She is a dedicated tree-hugger and passionate environmentalist. Chi enjoys teaching piano to beginner and intermediate students and also tutors math and science. She is a National Merit Scholarship recipient, and was named one of the top twenty students in the nation as part of USA Today's All-USA Academic First Team.

Acceptance speech:

I would like to extend a warm thank you to the members of SAPA for awarding me this scholarship. This scholarship will allow me to focus more on my studies and my work for Vietnam, rather than on finding a job to pay my way through Stanford. I am very honored to be awarded this scholarship, especially because I feel that SAPA and I share a very similar goal-the advancement of the quality of life for people both here and in East Asia. My target is my parents' homeland, Vietnam, which has already progressed very far in just the last five years. In the future, with new technology and new business, I hope for an even greater change for the people of Vietnam. Together with your innovation and dedication, we can make this possible.