IMSA 20th Senior Class Graduates
For Immediate Release, Press Release
For comment, contact Brenda Buschbacher at
(630) 907-5033
AURORA— The 20th senior class of the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy® (IMSA) graduated at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, May 31, at the Paramount Theatre in Aurora. This year’s commencement address was given by Arden L. Bement, Jr., Ph.D, Director of the National Science Foundation.
Local-area members of IMSA’s 204-member Class of 2008 include: (see enclosed list).
The student speakers were Josue E. Pernillo of Lansing and Emily Zhao of Chicago. Dr. Glenn “Max” McGee and Dr. Luis Nuñez, chairman of the IMSA Board of Trustees, presented diplomas and academic medallions to graduates. Because of seating limitations, IMSA's ceremony was not open to the public. Following the ceremony, graduates and their families joined staff members for a reception on campus.
IMSA President Dr. Max McGee said the state of Illinois can be proud of IMSA’s graduates, who will be well prepared to solve global issues and advance the human condition.
“The Commencement of the IMSA Class of 2008 represents three years of hard work and persistent dedication of not only our students, but the faculty and staff who nurtured them along the way,” Dr. McGee said. “Illinois’ citizens and our state can be proud of the world-class education provided to these remarkable students, preparing them to become tomorrow’s leaders and setting them on a path for future success.”
McGee also commended the students for their global citizenship. “IMSA’s Class of 2008 should be commended for their service to students, families and communities from Aurora to Ecuador, Hyde Park to Honduras and Oklahoma to South Dakota,” McGee said. “Their contributions are equivalent to 875 weeks or almost 17 years of service.”
IMSA Principal Dr. Eric McLaren said IMSA’s graduates are to be commended for their achievements and for choosing IMSA. "We thank you for choosing IMSA to find a challenging curriculum, to make wonderful friendships, to ask hard questions, to be challenged to take risks, and to grow into the leaders the world so desperately needs," Dr. McLaren said. "We also want to thank your families for choosing IMSA, and for enabling us to take a part in shaping you, our 'IMSA ambassadors' to the world."
The internationally recognized Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy® (IMSA) develops creative, ethical leaders in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. As a teaching and learning laboratory created by the State of Illinois, IMSA enrolls academically talented Illinois students (grades 10-12) in its advanced, residential college preparatory program. It also serves thousands of educators and students in Illinois and beyond through innovative instructional programs that foster imagination and inquiry. (www.imsa.edu)
IMSA Graduate Names and Hometowns – Class of 2008
| Last name | First name | Middle name | Hometown |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shi | Bo | Algonquin | |
| Trevor | Sarah | Clare | Algonquin |
| Cano | Luis | Miguel | Aurora |
| Geiger | Daniel | Jefferson | Aurora |
| Iglesias | Jennifer | Marie | Aurora |
| Jeffries | Joe | Lamar | Aurora |
| Johnson | Justin | Christopher | Aurora |
| Logaraj | Ranjani | Aurora | |
| Denig | Bryan | Richard | Bartlett |
| Nammari | Sammy | A. | Bartlett |
| Karabowicz | Denise | Elizabeth | Batavia |
| Evans | Tiernan | Louise | Belleville |
| Damulira | Hamidah | N. | Bellwood |
| Blasingame | Marilyn | Alice | Belvidere |
| Bekker | Ivette | Laureen | Bloomington |
| Kao | Monica | Lynn | Bloomington |
| Amin | Kunj | B. | Bolingbrook |
| Du | Tianyu | Bolingbrook | |
| Ghant | Marissa | Simonne | Bolingbrook |
| Hotchkiss | Geoffrey | Wade | Bolingbrook |
| Valdez Allen | Kaitana | Kristina | Bolingbrook |
| Adubifa | Adenike | Abimbola | Bourbonnais |
| Johnston | Colin | James | Bristol |
| Kononov | Ekaterina | R. | Buffalo Grove |
| Hahne | William | August | Bull Valley |
| Kroll | Jessica | Marie | Burlington |
| Ewert | Audra | Renée | Capron |
| Lightfoot Vidal | Sarah | Eugenia | Carbondale |
| Gee | Kelsey | Kaynatti | Carol Stream |
| Redmon IV | Vernie | Noble | Carterville |
| Barkan | Phoebe | Colleen | Champaign |
| McInerney | Michael | Ross | Champaign |
| Onal | Birce | Champaign | |
| Kuchenbecker | Michael | J. | Channahon |
| Macy | Aaron | Paul | Charleston |
| Abraham | Mivil | Mohan | Chicago |
| Balto | Julia | Marie | Chicago |
| Choi | Je-ok | Chicago | |
| Gala | Rima | Jitendra | Chicago |
| Jimenez | Efrain | Chicago | |
| Luo | Tianyin | Chicago | |
| Pilipchuk | Sophia | Patricia | Chicago |
| Spencer | Daniela | Michelle | Chicago |
| Truong | Timothy | Hong | Chicago |
| Vaitla | Bharat | Chicago | |
| Whittaker | Patricia | Charlotte | Chicago |
| Zepeda | Francisco | Javier | Chicago |
| Zhao | Emily | Chicago | |
| Galvez | Maribel | Cicero | |
| Ronchetti | Jonathon | P. | Coal City |
| Ryan | Ellen | Marie | Dallas City |
| Peifer | Janelle | Marylee | Dana |
| Shen | Alan | Michael | Darien |
| Winans | Alyssa | Lara | Downers Grove |
| Du | Yangbo | Dunlap | |
| Tegura | Sabine | Dwight | |
| Zilikana | Sandrine | Dwight | |
| Johnson | Jeremy | Delon | East St. Louis |
| Dzakuma | Sena | Akua | Effingham |
| Bradford | Perry | Sá Lee | Elgin |
| Peterson | Lisa | Aileen | Elgin |
| Nayak | Jagannath | Sam | Elmhurst |
| Matlosz | Sylwia | Magdalena | Elmwood Park |
| Myrda | John | Andrew | Elmwood Park |
| Picher | Rachel | Ellen | Elmwood Park |
| Young | Valerie | Anne | Elsah |
| Ansani | Neal | Garcia | Evanston |
| Rhein | Meredith | Jean | Fairview Heights |
| Robertson | Gloria | Lauren | Flossmoor |
| Zhang | Brandon | Zheng | Fox River Grove |
| Pasupuleti | Anoop | Kishore | Geneva |
| Cruppenink | Katie | Jo | Georgetown |
| Schmidt | Kevin | Charles | Glen Ellyn |
| Rao | Gouthami | Gudur | Glendale Heights |
| Choi | Lindsey | Ann | Glenview |
| Nai | David | W. | Gurnee |
| Higa | Kenneth | Levi | Hampshire |
| Chirumamilla | Shiva | Hickory Hills | |
| Paruchuri | Sandeep | Hinsdale | |
| Ding | Jeffery | Hoffman Estates | |
| Bryniarski | Michael | James | Homer Glen |
| Dudlicek-Bright | Grace | Carol | Homer Glen |
| Suh | Angela | Yeon | Inverness |
| Mathieu | Kyson | Joseph | Jacksonville |
| Thomas | Lacey | Ann | Joliet |
| Maloney | Jacob | Fuller | La Grange |
| Hodge | Morgan | Brittney | Lacon |
| Sloan | Sara Marie | Augustyn | Lacon |
| Kang | Sarah | Sun | Lake in the Hills |
| Roberts | Shawna | Jean | Lake Villa |
| Schirmann | Kyle | Lindstrom | Lake Zurich |
| Bartley | Ralph | G. | Lansing |
| Pernillo | Josue | E. | Lansing |
| Biwer | Meagan | Angela | Lemont |
| Lawrence, Jr. | Francis | Edmund | Lisle |
| Cho | Seong-Ah | Macomb | |
| Patel | Karan | S. | Macomb |
| Bhattacharya | Monica | Makanda | |
| Fernandez | Karissa | Faith | Marion |
| Dodson | Colin | Louis | Marissa |
| Gentile | Andrew | Marcus | McHenry |
| Steffen | Jacqueline | Pearl | Moline |
| Rahlin | Anastasia | Ana | Morton Grove |
| Song | Sonny | Yuan | Mount Vernon |
| Bogulla | Nitin | Lakshman | Mount Zion |
| Bergin | Allison | Elaine | Mt. Morris |
| Zeng | Sharon | Mundelein | |
| Bai | Yuyang (David) | Naperville | |
| Bian | Stephanie | M. | Naperville |
| Cai | Steven | Benson | Naperville |
| Chang | Li-Yan | David | Naperville |
| Dong | Jessica | Phyllis | Naperville |
| Fang | Zexi | Naperville | |
| Jayakar | Sonali | Naperville | |
| Kuo | Philip | Charles | Naperville |
| Ma | Alex | Yue | Naperville |
| Mohanty | Vineet | Naperville | |
| Mutha | Sulochana | Kumari | Naperville |
| Novak | Adam | Matthew | Naperville |
| Ou | Joseph | Simon | Naperville |
| Paik | Michael | Jeesup | Naperville |
| Rana | Amar | B. | Naperville |
| Sarup | Ashima | Naperville | |
| Singh | Gaurav | Naperville | |
| Wang | Evelyn | Ruth | Naperville |
| Sheen | Hyun | Soo | North Aurora |
| Leung | Shelton | Chi-Lai | Northbrook |
| Cheng | Winnie | Oak Lawn | |
| King | Eileen | A. | Oak Park |
| Cansler | Marsha | Cyndi | Olympia Fields |
| Mulcahy | Liam | Martin | Orland Park |
| Ajayi | Olubunmi | Hope | Oswego |
| Boldridge | William | Clifford | Oswego |
| Dienhart | Paul | William | Oswego |
| Ritchie | Andrew | Jeffrey | Ottawa |
| Abel | Megan | Harper | Palatine |
| Topgi | Shobha | Ravindra | Palatine |
| Dabaco | Matthew | Dean | Palos Park |
| Caldwell | Alisha | Danielle | Park Forest |
| Martin | Ronald | C. | Park Forest |
| Iandola | Forrest | N. | Pearl City |
| Fandel | Marissa | Marie | Pekin |
| Hultgren | Eric | Nels | Peoria |
| Shareef | Sarah | Jabeen | Peoria |
| Yang | Kai | Peoria | |
| Ye | Siyao | Peoria | |
| Rock | Jason | James | Peotone |
| Pillai | Gokila | Peru | |
| McByrd | Angela | Dominique | Phoenix |
| Miller | Chantel | Ashley | Plano |
| Rabin | Fae | Stephanie | Plano |
| Heikes | Heather | Renee | Quincy |
| Hardin | Frances | Mei | River Forest |
| Narkis | Jeffrey | Robert | River Forest |
| Zaychenko | Oleh | River Grove | |
| Dismer | Connor | Murray | Rock Island |
| Lee | Ju | Yeong | Rockford |
| Kim | Martin | Ahm | Roselle |
| Garcia | Leslie | Anne | Round Lake Beach |
| Kaminski, Jr. | Michael | John | Round Lake Park |
| Song | Karen | Ling-Ling | Salem |
| Kelaita | Yousif | Arthur | Schaumburg |
| Banke | Rachel | Lynn | Shabbona |
| Croyl | Crystal | Ann | Shabbona |
| Andoe | Eric | Christopher | Sheridan |
| Johnson | Kristina | Sue | Sheridan |
| Ogilvie | Scott | Michael | Sleepy Hollow |
| Mehta | Anita | D. | South Barrington |
| Kim | Jae | Ku | South Elgin |
| Zhang | Jun (Jenny) | South Elgin | |
| Ikejimba | Elizabeth | Chinelo | South Holland |
| Allen | Amy | Elizabeth | Springfield |
| Morrow | Cody | Aaron | Springfield |
| Nelsen | Luke | Lundstrom | Springfield |
| Breckenfelder | Lauren | Jane | St. Charles |
| Fu | Chelsea | St. Charles | |
| Jeria | Jorge | A. | St. Charles |
| Angelotti | Ryan | Joseph | Sugar Grove |
| Balasubramanian | Neelam | Gopinath | Sycamore |
| Kaufmann | Seely | Andrews | Sycamore |
| Atwood | Theodore | Michael | Tinley Park |
| Udawatta | Thiran | Tinley Park | |
| Koch | Jonathan | Peter | Tremont |
| Rossi | Vincent | Jack | Tremont |
| Jain | Ankit | Vernon Hills | |
| Wang | Mary | Tian | Vernon Hills |
| Zhang | Jing | Zhi | Vernon Hills |
| Herrman | Tyce | Christian | Verona |
| Till, Jr. | Robert | Patrick | Verona |
| Davenport | Jillian | Rose | Wadsworth |
| Lasswell | Kerry | Ann | Washburn |
| Meismer | Jessica | Leigh | Washburn |
| Smith | Russell | Dean | Washington |
| Barnes | Taylor | Anne | West Dundee |
| Prakash | Priyanka | Wheaton | |
| Baly | Kirk | Andrew | Wilmington |
| Bonarek | Nikolaus | James | Winfield |
| Cote | Joshua | L. | Winnebago |
| Schmitt | Parker | John | Winnetka |
| Cho | Lorraine | Woodridge | |
| Ugale | Ashwin | Raj | Woodridge |
| Wang | Ryan | Yuan | Woodridge |
| Milliron | Nicole | Marie | Yorkville |
| Sellars | Alexis | Victoria | Yorkville |