Scholars You May Know



Name	Year	Scholarship	Career Highlights

John A. Swanson	1957	American Bank Note Company Merit Scholarship	Mechanical engineer, founder of ANSYS, Inc., 2004 John Fritz Medal recipient, philanthropist

Elvin R. Bishop	1960	A. O. Smith Merit Scholarship	Musician, rock and blues legend

Stephen J. DeCanio	1960	National Merit Scholarship	Professor of Economics, University of California, Santa Barbara, shared the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize as part of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

Joseph E. Stiglitz	1960	Lilly Endowment Merit Scholarship	Professor of Economics at Columbia University, awarded the 2001 Nobel Prize in Economics, Former Senior Vice President and Chief Economist of the World Bank

Amory Bloch Lovins	1964	National Merit Scholarship	Environmentalist/physicist, Chairman and Chief Scientist of the Rocky Mountain Institute, author

Robert B. Reich	1964	National Merit Scholarship	Professor of Public Policy at the Goldman School of Public Policy at the University of California at Berkeley, Secretary of Labor for the Clinton Administration, author

Thomas R. Cech	1966	National Merit Scholarship	Distinguished Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of Colorado, Boulder, awarded the 1989 Nobel Prize in Chemistry

Alexa I. Canady	1967	FMC Achievement Scholarship	First African-American female neurosurgeon

Mitchell Daniels, Jr.	1967	National Merit Scholarship	Current Governor of Indiana

Roger Y. Tsien	1968	National Merit Scholarship	Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator for University of California-San Diego, awarded the 2008 Nobel Prize in Chemistry

Jerry Greenfield	1969	Bache Corporation Foundation Merit Scholarship	Co-founder, Ben & Jerry's

Paul R. Krugman	1970	National Merit Scholarship	Professor of Economics and International Affairs at Princeton University, awarded the 2008 Nobel Prize in Economics, Author, OpEd, New York Times, Economic Commentator

Ben S. Bernanke	1971	National Merit Scholarship	Chairman, Federal Reserve

Evelynn M. Hammonds	1971	National Achievement Scholarship	Dean of Harvard College

Jeffrey D. Sachs	1972	National Merit Scholarship	Economist

Steven A. Ballmer	1973	National Merit Scholarship	Chief Executive Officer of Microsoft Corporation

William H. "Bill" Gates	1973	National Merit Scholarship	Former Chairman, Microsoft Corporation, Founder of Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

Jim Cramer	1973	National Merit Scholarship	Host of CNBC's Mad Money, author, financial advisor

Mae Carol Jemison	1973	Bell Telephone Laboratories Achievement Scholarship	Retired NASA astronaut, physician, first African-American woman in space

John G. Roberts	1973	National Merit Scholarship	Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court

Elena Kagan	1977	National Merit Scholarship	Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court

Lisa P. Jackson	1979	Nabisco Achievement Scholarship	Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency for the Obama Administration

Benjamin A. "B. Alvin" Drew	1980	National Achievement Scholarship	Colonel in the United States Air Force, Air Force pilot, NASA astronaut

Gabe L. Newell	1980	National Merit Scholarship	Co-founder and president of Valve Corporation, the developer behind popular game franchises like Half-Life and Portal as well as the operator of Steam

Lisa J. Randall	1980	National Merit Scholarship	Professor of Theoretical Physics at Harvard University, author

Susan E. Rice	1982	National Achievement Scholarship	U.S. Ambassador for the United Nations for the Obama Administration

Jeffrey P. Bezos	1982	National Merit Scholarship	Chairman and CEO, Amazon.com

Peter A. Thiel	1985	National Merit Scholarship	Co-founder, PayPal

Linda D. Rottenberg	1986	National Merit Scholarship	CEO and Co-founder of Endeavor, entrepreneur, named one of America's best leaders of 2008 by U.S. News and World Report

Manoj "M. Night" Shyamalan	1988	New York University Merit Scholarship	Director, filmmaker, two-time Academy Award nominee, known for films such as The Sixth Sense and Signs

James M. McCullers	1989	BellSouth Merit Scholarship	Writer, director, co-wrote the last two Austin Powers films, wrote and directed the film Baby Mama

Melissa Harris-Lacewell	1991	National Achievement Scholarship	Associate Professor of Politics and African American Studies at Princeton University, author

Stephenie (Morgan) Meyer	1992	Brigham Young University Merit Scholarship	Author of the Twilight vampire series

Kathryn "Felicia" Day	1995	University of Texas Merit Scholarship	Television and Film Actress, has appeared on House, Monk, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and films such as Bring it on Again

Terence S. Carter	1997	National Achievement Scholarship	Vice President of Drama Programming, NBC

The individuals referred to above have been included here for informational purposes only. Reference to these individuals does not suggest and is not intended to suggest, either expressly or by implication, that any of these individuals endorse or sponsor NMSC or its programs.

Page last updated January, 2012

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