WAIMEA — Thomas Yoo, a senior at Hawaii Preparatory Academy, has been named a National Merit Scholarship winner in the 62nd annual National Merit Scholarship Program.
Dana Petteys, HPA’s interim dean of academics, made the announcement.
Yoo won the National Merit Delphi Foundation Scholarship and is one of more than 1,000 distinguished high school seniors who have won corporate-sponsored National Merit Scholarship awards financed by about 200 corporations, company foundations and other business organizations.
Delphi is a leading global supplier of electronics and technologies for automotive, commercial vehicles and other market segments that operates major technical centers, manufacturing sites and customer support facilities in 30 countries.
Yoo, the son of Sae Keun Yoo and Sun Won Moon of Seoul, Korea, is bilingual in Korean and English and an advanced student of Spanish. He is a dedicated member of the school’s cross-country team and theater department and has had prominent roles in several productions during his high school career.
He also is founder and president of the HPA Cultural Inquiries Club. Last summer, Yoo interned in the marketing department of Delphi in Seoul. He will attend the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania this fall.
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 sponsors 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 $500-$10,000 per year. Some provide a single payment between $2,500 and $5,000. Recipients can use their awards at any regionally accredited U.S. college or university of their choice.
Funding for these National Merit Scholarships is provided by corporate organizations that represent nearly all sectors of American industry. Sponsors from the business community have underwritten awards offered in all 62 competitions, expending or committing more than $767 million to support the intellectual development of the nation’s scholastically talented youth.