Nine Montgomery County Public Schools students have won corporate-sponsored National Merit Scholarships financed by companies, foundations, and other business organizations.

The students are among 20 corporate-sponsored scholars in Maryland. Nationally, about 1,000 scholars were chosen from a group of 15,000 finalists in the annual program of the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC).

The winners, intended career fields and sponsors are:

· Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School
Michael R. Metzler, engineering, Dow Jones

· Montgomery Blair High School
Anand D. Oza, mathematics, Lockheed Martin
Scott S. Yu, law/finance, Science Applications International Corporation

· Richard Montgomery High School
Julie K. Cheng, business, Northrup Grumman
Lydia J. Liang, medicine, Science Applications International Corporation

· Quince Orchard High School
Laura A. Chitty, bioengineering, Lockheed Martin

· Walt Whitman High School
Surbhi Agrawal, biology, Northrop Grumman

· Thomas S. Wootton High School
Rowana Ahmed, chemical engineering, Macy’s Foundation
Alexis D. Reineke, biology, Northrup Grumman

Most corporate-sponsored Merit Scholarships are renewable for up to four years of college undergraduate study and provide annual stipends that range from $500 to $10,000 annually. Some of the awards provide a single payment between $2,500 and $5,000. Recipients can use the awards at any regionally accredited U.S. college or university of their choice.
The scholars are all high school seniors, selected for their academic skills and achievements, extracurricular accomplishments, potential for success in rigorous college studies, and other criteria of one of several hundred corporate sponsors.

Additional recipients of Merit Scholarships will be announced later this year.