Twenty One Indian American High School Students Named High-Achieving 2020 U.S. Presidential Scholars

WASHINGTON, DC -U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos announced May 21 the 56th class of U.S. Presidential Scholars, recognizing 161 high school seniors, 21 of them Indian American, for their accomplishments in academics, the arts, and career and technical education fields.

The White House Commission on Presidential Scholars selects scholars annually based on their academic success, artistic and technical excellence, essays, school evaluations, and transcripts, as well as evidence of community service, leadership, and demonstrated commitment to high ideals.

Of the 3.6 million students expected to graduate from high school this year, more than 5,300 candidates qualified for the 2020 awards determined by outstanding performance on the College Board SAT or ACT exams or through nominations made by chief state school officers, other partner recognition organizations and the National YoungArts Foundation’s nationwide YoungArts competition.

The 21 Indian American students are: Rithvik Reddy Musuku of Gilbert-BASIS Chandler ( Arizona), Matthew Allana of Beverly Hills – Beverly Hills High School, and Anthony Arya of Santa Cruz – Georgiana Bruce Kirby Preparatory School (named U.S. Presidential Scholar in the Arts) (California, Umar Arif Aulia, Newark of Tower Hill School (Delaware), Arnav Prashant Lande of Naperville-Waubonsie Valley High School (named U.S. Presidential Scholar in Career and Technical Education) (Illinois), Ankush Kundan Dhawan, Newburgh of Signature School (Indiana), Pranav Tadikonda, Boyds of Richard Montgomery High School (named U.S. Presidential Scholar in the Arts) (Maryland), Ansh Patel, Riverviewof Grosse Ile High School (Michigan), Vayd Sai Ramkumar of Starkville-Mississippi School for Mathematics & Science (Mississippi), Rahul Suresh Kanna of Chesterfield-Lafayette High School (Missouri), Gail Parambi of Great Falls-Charles M. Russell High School (Montana), Emhyr Subramanian of Reno-Davidson Academy of Nevada (Nevada), Aniv Ray of Worthington-Columbus Academy (Ohio), Sukanya Bhattacharya of Edmond-Heritage Hall Upper School (Oklahoma), Neil Deshmukh of Macungie-Moravian Academy, and Rhea Malhotra of Allentown-Moravian Academy (Pennsylvania), Ishita Rai, Warwick of St. Mary Academy, Bay View (Rhode Island), Vamsi Gorrepati of Columbia-Spring Valley High School (South Carolina), Sohum Makarand Kulkarni of Dallas-Parish Episcopal School (Texas), Nisha Shah of South Burlington High School (Vermont), Sanjana Reddy Peddagorla of Brookfield East High School (Wisconsin).