Team USA wins 4 gold medals at International Biology Olympiad
July 22, 2015
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All four members of Team USA received gold medals at the 26th International Biology Olympiad July 12-19 in Aarhus, Denmark. Pictured, from left, with their gold medals are Boyang "Peter" Dun of Indiana; Varun Mangalick of Minnesota; Grace Chen of New Jersey; and Yilun Du of Washington state. (Purdue University photo/provided by Kathy Frame of Center for Excellent in Education) |
Team member Dun of Indiana claims second in the world
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Team USA won four Gold Medals at the 26th International Biology Olympiad (IBO) in Aarhus, Denmark, the Center for Excellence in Education (CEE) announces. Team member Boyang "Peter" Dun of Indiana claimed second place in the world.
Team USA participated in the world's competition for top academic achievement in biology, surpassing student representatives from 66 nations. The United States gold medalists at the IBO, held July 12-19, are:
* Grace Chen, Bridgewater-Raritan Regional High School, Bridgewater, New Jersey.
* Yilun Du, Pullman High School, Pullman, Washington.
* Varun Mangalick, Mounds View High School, Arden Hills, Minnesota.
* Dun, Canterbury School, Fort Wayne, Indiana.
Team USA members were selected based on their academic merit by CEE during the 13th annual USA Biology Olympiad (USABO) National Finals hosted by Purdue University in June. Dun will be a senior this fall, while Chen, Du, and Mangalick will be attending Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the fall.
"Team USA honored the United States at the International Biology Olympiad by garnering four gold medals," said Joann DiGennaro, president of CEE. "Grace, Yilun, Peter and Varun earned world recognition with their academic proficiency and are excellent academic scholars who are headed for outstanding careers in science."
Kathy Frame, director of the USABO and special projects for the CEE, and Clark Gedney, director of the BioMedia Center for Instructional Design at Purdue, accompanied Team USA at the worldwide event.
Nearly 10,500 U.S. students from across the United States registered for the highly competitive USABO. Twenty finalists from 10 states were selected to compete at the USABO at Purdue based on their scores from the open and semifinal exams.
Students at the USABO participated in lectures, study sessions and laboratory exercises led by biology experts in fields that include cellular and molecular biology, plant anatomy and physiology, animal anatomy and physiology, ethology, genetics and evolution, ecology, ethology and biosystematics.
This marks the sixth consecutive year that Purdue has co-sponsored the finals with CEE.
Frame was elected by her fellow jurors to be a member of Denmark's Host Committee for the 2015 IBO. The subgroup worked in cooperation with Aarhus to review the practical and the theoretical examinations that had been developed, focusing on the quality of the questions in terms of scientific correctness and conceptual formulation. She was invited to participate in the subgroup for IBO 2016 Hanoi, Vietnam.
About the Center for Excellence in Education
The Center for Excellence in Education was founded in 1983 by the late Admiral H.G. Rickover and Joann P. DiGennaro, president of the center. The center's mission is to nurture high school and university scholars to careers of excellence and leadership in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, and to encourage collaboration between and among leaders in the global community. CEE sponsors the Research Science Institute (RSI), the USA Biology Olympiad (USABO) and the Teacher Enrichment Program (TEP).
About Team USA at International Biology Competitions
CEE is proud that every U.S. team member has medaled in the International Biology Competition since 2003, bringing home 38 gold, eight silver, and two bronze medals.
Media Contacts: Phillip Fiorini, 765-496-3133, pfiorini@purdue.edu
Maureen Palmer, 703-448-9062, ext. 222, mpalmer@cee.org
Sources: Joann DiGennaro, 703-448-9062
Kathy Frame, 703-448-9062, kframe@cee.org
Clark Gedney, 765-494-4921, cgedney@purdue.edu
