News of the achievements of local students and members of the Armed Forces.
• The following local students earned degrees during fall commencement exercises at University of Maryland Global Campus:
Shirley Xiaobi of McLean earned a master of education degree in distance education and e-learning. Melissa Duenas of Vienna earned a master of science degree in biotechnology. Teresa Roach of McLean earned a master of science degree in human-resources management.
Austin Allen of McLean earned a bachelor of science degree in computer networks and cybersecurity. Dejonna Groff of McLean earned a bachelor of science degree in computer networks and cybersecurity.
• Julia McElligott of Vienna earned a bachelor of science degree in commerce and business administration and Stephen Sheridan of Vienna earned a bachelor of science degree in commerce and business administration during recent commencement exercises at the University of Alabama.
• Afrazuddin Zawair Mohammed of McLean earned a degree during recent commencement exercises at Campbellsville University.
• Isabella Obradovich of McLean, Erin Burgeson of Oakton, Kristina Okeson of Great Falls, Ian Murphy of Vienna and Cassie Herman of Vienna have been named to the president’s list for the fall semester at Miami University.
• The following local students have been named to the president’s list for the fall semester at James Madison University:
Caroline Crandall of Vienna, Sydney Marvin of Vienna, Walker Hubbard of Vienna, Bailey Brummer of Vienna, Kiefer Moyese of Vienna, Catherine Kirkhorn of Vienna, Ethan Dray of McLean, Katherine Cherpes of Vienna, Lianna Williams of Vienna, Sadie Aram of Vienna, Sidney Roth of Vienna, Daria Manitiu of Vienna, Vinay Wason of McLean, Madeline Burns of Vienna, Tate Lemm of Vienna, Thomas Rothman of Vienna.
Nicole Parks of Vienna, Lorelei Dellavedova of Oakton, Grace Cornman of Vienna, Eve Cunningham of Vienna, Alexis O’Donnell of Vienna, Elizabeth Williams of Oakton, Olivia Gore of McLean, Stella Vedder of McLean, Danielle Generous of Great Falls, Kian Mostaghim of Vienna, Ian Macleod of McLean, Andrew Norton of McLean, Julia Hamilton of Vienna, Sean Hilger of Vienna, Erin Lyons of Vienna, Catherine Morrissey of Vienna, Alexander Garcia of McLean, Malcolm Burbano of Vienna.
Erin Garvert of Vienna, Fiona Williams of Vienna, Christianna Noble of Vienna, Harrison Patel of Oakton, Kayla Asgari of Great Falls, Veronika Miller of Vienna, Eva Suskind of McLean, Anne Williams of McLean, Gregory Gersony of Great Falls, Anise Jreige of Vienna, Haley Mills Quick of Great Falls, Alden Miller of McLean, Kathleen Berry of Vienna, Jane Gerrard of McLean.
Grace-Lauren Richmond of Vienna, Ashley Onusko of Vienna, Cana Reasons of Vienna, Amelia Conha Mendonca of McLean, Sarah Ormond of Great Falls, Anna Stein of Vienna, Hongkyung Shin of McLean, Jennifer Broomes of Oakton, Christina Hoehner of Vienna, Mary Campion of McLean, Michael Anderson of Oakton, Maya Kalish of McLean, Emily Knisley of Vienna, Peter Korenko of Vienna.
• Madison Hughes of Vienna has been named to the dean’s list for the fall semester at Susquehanna University.
• William Stuckwisch of McLean and Whitney Wiley of Vienna have been named to the dean’s list for the fall semester at the University of New Hampshire.
• Kevin O’Neill of McLean has been named to the dean’s list for the fall semester at Hofstra University.
• Mia Fitzgerald of McLean, Kimberly McNeil of Great Falls and Julia Stein of Vienna have been named to the dean’s list for the fall semester at Muhlenberg College.
• Alexander Rubin of McLean, Katherine Monacella of Vienna and Nell Plante of Vienna have been named to the dean’s list for the fall semester at the University of Vermont.
• Thomas Pacious of McLean has been named to the dean’s list for the fall semester at College of the Holy Cross.
• Ashley Morris of Vienna, Robert Luebke of McLean, Robert Nahigian of Vienna, Ellie Cull of McLean and Daniel Job of Oakton have been named to the dean’s list for the fall semester at Miami University.
• Josie Gillespie, Ben Leone, Harper Malesardi, Nicole Moran, Erica Weiss and P.J. Whitworth of Great Falls; Lianne Garrhan, Sky Sunderhauf and Jake Rothenberg of McLean; Molly Manhoff of Oakton; and Luke Snyder of Vienna have been named to the dean’s list for the fall semester at Bucknell University.
• The following students have been named to the dean’s list for the fall semester from James Madison University:
– From Dunn Loring: Haley Platter.
– From Great Falls: Katherine Campbell, Pouya Parsinejad, Michael Buckingham, Hunter Borcherding, Ethan Addington, Abigail Paredes, Abigail Piper, Elizabeth Rothenberger, Elizabeth Diederich, Olivia Elkas, Ryan Sandhu, David Hulett.
– From McLean: Emma Privitera, Lila Pournaras, Noah Solomon, Michelle Wong, Giorgio Ko, Seth Yusuf, Dakota Lawson, Rhea Morris, Jenna Levetown, Yazeed Salameh, Caroline Ludwick, Kavin Saxena, Caledonia Hamilton, Gabriel Deleonardis, William Tedesco, Toby Howard, Gianna Esposito, Eric Strelser, Cyrus Kaviani, Zane Sweidan, William Chapman.
– From Oakton: Michael Isler, Eleanor Shiveley, Grant Warner, Amy Borner, Diego Navia Sejas, Jacqueline Montenegro, Charlotte Filiatrault, Larry Rice, Cassandra Brazinsky, Ethan Lee, David Guarnieri, Sophie Shumway, Valencia McIntosh, Elena Fleetwood, Sara Wharff, Grace Mead.
– From Vienna: Brendan Trainer, Nicholas Vinh, Kristine Beach, Kaylee Eiseman, Hayley Larson, Dorsa Azhandeh, Samiyah Zaman, Sofiya Biryukova, Andrew Thompson, Andrew Roberts, Lily Marlow, Haley Lubeley, Jace Lemm, Samuel Sorrell, Austin Wysocki, Ellen Reed, Hannah Lindley, Brooke Sylvester, Ethan Howard, Grace McConville, Paige Bateman, Andrew Baker, Ilyasz Dresser, Liam McNulty, Colin Nininger, Andrew Zarazinski, Alexandra Gound, Samantha Tadle, Devon Lussier, Chloe Clark, Rachel Kennealy, Marissa Frtonin, Natalie Norcross, Daniel Van Heest, Katherine Reuss, Amalia Makrigiorgos, Emily Lowe, Maya Al Taher, Kayla Eksteen, Madeline Query, Esha Maskeri, Annaliese Wan, Andrew Weinstock, Sarah Grace, John Douglas, Melanie Chambers, William Blackwell, Lyndsey Sheiner, Evan Bremser, Dimitrije Hryshchyshyn, Mohamed Hamza Abassi, Zachary Buerkle, Diana Afriye-Opoku, Michelle Morris, Kara Kettner, Dennis Duffy.
• John Clark of McLean, O’Kelly McWilliams of Oakton and Ona Sinani of Great Falls have been named to the dean’s list for the fall semester at Wofford College.
• Nicholas Fiorenza of Oakton and Colin Gallagher of Vienna have been named to the dean’s list for the fall semester at Worcester Polytechnic Institute.
• Regeneron and the Society for Science on Jan. 25 named two local students as among 40 finalists in the Regeneron Science Talent Search 2023, the nation’s oldest and most prestigious science and math competition for high-school seniors.
Ethan Zhou of McLean High School was recognized for his project, titled “Online Learning of Smooth Functions.”
Zhou worked on the mathematical theory behind a type of machine learning called online learning and how it performs when predicting something highly unpredictable. His work applies both when the prediction is a single number and when multiple values are being predicted simultaneously.
Emily Ocasio, who attends New School of Northern Virginia in Fairfax, was recognized for her project, titled “Demographic Correlates of Humanizing Language in Media Coverage of Crime: Evidence from The Boston Globe, 1976-84.”
Using an artificial-intelligence (AI) model, Ocasio matched publicly available FBI data with archival Boston Globe articles to examine hidden biases about homicide victims in media coverage. By mapping a victim’s demographics against the quantity of humanizing details reported in the newspaper, she demonstrated biases based on the victim’s race, gender and age.
From March 9 to 15, finalists will participate in a week-long competition where they will compete for more than $1.8 million in awards.
Each finalist, selected from 1,949 entrants, will receive $25,000. The top 10 awards, which will be announced during a live-streamed awards ceremony on March 14, range from $40,000 to $250,000.