Each year colleges at the University identify a number of Philip Merrill Presidential Scholars based upon their student population. The colleges select their specified number of graduating seniors for the honor of being a Philip Merrill Presidential Scholar, based upon academic record, research, and other forms of leadership. Once selected, the Scholars each name a teacher from their K-12 education and a faculty member from their time at the University who have contributed to their success.

Carvel LaCurts previously taught math at a public high school in Maryland . At the end of this school year, LaCurts will enjoy something rare in the lives of teachers - public recognition, thanks, and celebration. LaCurts was identified by one of the twenty four 2007-2008 Philip Merrill Presidential Scholars as the most important teacher and mentor from her K-12 experiences. The decision was not a difficult one for this particular scholar, because her high school math teacher, the man who inspired her to go on and study math at Maryland , is also Katrina LaCurts' father.

Katrina LaCurts “My father’s love of mathematics inspired me to pursue the field in college.”

While LaCurts is coming from nearby Worcester County , other K-12 teachers will travel to the University from across the nation for the 2008 Philip Merrill Presidential Scholars celebrations     taking    place    in

November. Bringing a student's designated teacher to campus is full of challenges for Assistant Dean Lisa Kiely, who leads the Philip Merrill Presidential Scholars Program. This year a substantial number of the

Philip Merrill Presidential Scholars nominated their kindergarten teacher. Even though the students haven't been out of school long, teachers retire or move schools, sometimes making them elusive honorees. Kiely recalls, from a couple of years ago, the search for an uncommonly good Baltimore teacher with a rather common name. However this particular teacher was no longer working in Baltimore , he had retired, according to the school, and moved to Florida . Armed with some twenty Florida listings from directory assistance the program's staff began a series of calls to Florida hoping one of the numbers on the list would lead to a special teacher; and it did.

The program has never been unable to find a teacher yet. Some have been located as far away as Hawaii , and Alaska , and for one teacher in Indonesia the president's office was even able to arrange for a visa so they could attend the celebratory banquet.“It is challenging,” says Kiely, but facilitating a reunion with their former pupil, and bringing the teachers to hear their students talk about the enduring influence they've had makes the hunting and hard work coordinating the event worthwhile. The teachers feel honored when they have been named

by former students, but it isn't until they hear those students speak that, often moved to tears, they really understand what they have meant to their students.

In addition to their recognition at the annual banquet, the Philip Merrill Presidential Scholars Program also gives a scholarship in the teacher's name to an incoming student from their high school. “The most wonderful part for the teachers is that they've had a hand in the success of their student, and with the scholarship the have a hand in someone else coming up,” explains Kiely.

The University of Maryland faculty named by the scholars are usually not as hard to find as their K-12 counterparts. Many of the outstanding professors are named year after year by different Philip Merrill Presidential Scholars, who each found them to be an important influence as a teacher and mentor. This year two students from ARHU, Luisa Cole and Anne Powell, both named Michael Olmert, professor of English as the faculty member they'd like to honor.

The Philip Merrill Presidential Scholars Program, now in its fourth year, is named after diplomat and philanthropist Philip Merrill. The Merrill family attends the annual banquet each year. The program is an initiative of the president's office, administered by Undergraduate Studies.

For more information about the program, including a full list of Philip Merrill Presidential Scholars and their statements about the teachers they selected, visit http://www.ugst.umd.edu/merrill.

Lindsey Bernstein (left) and Diana Bernstein (right) are twin sisters. Both sisters are seniors in the Robert H. Smith School of Business, and both have been selected as Philip Merrill Presidential Scholars.