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50 Years of U.S. PRESIDENTIAL SCHOLARS In Pursuit of Excellence Published by the U.S. Presidential Scholars Alumni Association The Wall Street Journal celebrates the next generation of leaders 2014 U.s. Presidential Scholars WSJ.com LBJ LIBRARY PHOTO BY ARNOLD NEWMAN “I am very proud to welcome you to the White House as the first “Presidential Scholars.” I congratulate you, and I congratulate your parents and your teachers for their part in producing your talents for our times. ... You are here because of what you have accomplished, in your own right, and what you have the capacity to accomplish in the future in your own right. You have excelled in the scholarship of your class of 1964. You have the potential to excel even more in the citizenship of your country of 1974 or 1984 or 1994. I have congratulated you. I want now to challenge you – to challenge you to develop and apply that quality of excellence which is within you. … I believe the destiny of your generation, and your Nation, is a rendezvous with excellence. … You are younger than most of the earth’s quarrels, and you are older than most of the earth’s governments. You are younger than most of man’s ignorance, and older than much of his knowledge. … [This] is your challenge – to give your talents and your time in our land and in all lands to cleaning away the blight, to sweeping away the shoddiness, to wiping away the injustices and the inequities of the past so that all men may live together in a great world community of decency and of excellence.” – President Lyndon B. Johnson, Remarks Upon Presenting the First Presidential Scholars Awards, East Room of the White House, June 10, 1964 Congratulations on your 50th anniversary of inspiring and nurturing our next generation. We are proud to be your partner, and proud of those students we have jointly supported. Thank you. National YoungArts Foundation photo by Robert Leslie EXECUTIVE ORDER OF THE PRESIDENT Providing for the recognition of certain students as Presidential Scholars. EXECUTIVE ORDER 11155 WHEREAS it is necessary in the national interest that the Federal Government encourage high attainment by students in secondary schools, both public and private, throughout the Nation, and WHEREAS national recognition of scholastic attainments will tend to enhance the accomplishments of such students generally and their potential after graduation: NOW, THEREFORE, by virtue of the authority vested in me as President of the United States, it is ordered as follows: Section 1. There is hereby established the Commission on Presidential Scholars (hereinafter referred to as the Commis- sion). The Commission shall be composed of such members as the President may appoint from time to time from among appropriately qualified citizens of the United States. The person chosen each year, with the cooperation of the Office of Education, Department of Health, Education and Welfare, as National Teacher of the Year shall be one of the members of the Commission for a period terminating one year after the date of his or her selection as National Teacher of the Year or at such earlier time as a next-succeeding National Teacher of the Year is chosen. The President shall designate one of the members as chairman of the Commission. Members of the Commission shall serve at the pleasure of the President and without compensation from the United States. Section 2. The Commission, in accordance with such standards and procedures as it may prescribe and on the basis of its independent judgment, shall annually choose Presidential Scholars, subject to the following: 1. The Presidential Scholars shall be chosen from among persons who have recently been graduated, or are about to be graduated, from secondary schools, public or private. 2. They shall be chosen on the basis of their outstanding scholarship. 3. One boy and one girl shall be chosen as Presidential Scholars from each of the following, namely: i. Each state of the United States. rict ii. T ofhe Dist Columbia. iii. The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. iv. The following collectively: American Samoa, Canal Zone, Guam, Virgin Islands, Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, and, if the Commission in its discretion shall so determine, other places overseas. In respect of the said other places overseas, only children whose parents are citizens of the United States shall be eligible to be chosen hereunder as Presidential Scholars from those places. 4. In addition to the 106 Presidential Scholars provided for in paragraph (3) above, the commission may choose other Presidential Scholars, not exceeding fifteen in number for any one year, to be chosen at large from the jurisdictions referred to in that paragraph. Section 3. This is hereby established the Presidential Scholars Medallion which shall be of such design and material as the President shall approve and shall be presented to each Presidential Scholar chosen by the Commission under this order. Section 4. As necessary and subject to law, the Office of Education, Department of Health, Education and Welfare, shall facilitate, or make arrangements for facilitating the carrying out of the purposes of this order. Lyndon B. Johnson The White House EXECUTIV E ORD May 23, 1964 ER OF TH Awards for Special Capability in the VisualE PR andE Performing Arts and in Creative Writing SIDENT EXECUTIV E ORD ER 12158 By the authority vested in me as President by the Section 2 of Executive Order “(5) In addit ion to the PresidentialNo may choose other Presidential . 11155 is herebyC amendedonstitution by and adding statutes thereto of the the following paragraph: at large, from the jurisdictions referredS to in paragraph (3), on the basis of outstanding scholarship and cholars provided for in paragraph (3) and (4) above, the demonstrated ability and accomplishmentScholar in the visual and performing arts or in creativeUnit writing.” s not exceeding twenty in any one year. ed States of America, Jimmy C arter These Commission The White Scholars shall be chosen House September 18, 1979 we also fuel theworld ofeducation To be eligible for consideration, you must apply for a specific position online. Every year at BP, we fund about $100 million in research, education and recruitment activity across more than 50 U.S. universities. BP offers a progressive graduate program employing hundreds of students each year in full-time and internship roles across the US. Today, we’re very proud to congratulate the Presidential Scholars Program on 50 years of recognizing some of the nation’s most distinguished high school seniors. We share your commitment to giving the brightest young minds the support they need to find new solutions in the world of energy and beyond. Discover BP bp.com/uscampus 5 50 YEARS OF U.S. PRESIDENTIAL SCHOLARS In Pursuit of Excellence I Letters 6 50 YEARS OF U.S. PRESIDENTIAL SCHOLARS In Pursuit of Excellence 7 50 YEARS OF U.S. PRESIDENTIAL SCHOLARS In Pursuit of Excellence I Letters 8 50 YEARS OF U.S. PRESIDENTIAL SCHOLARS In Pursuit of Excellence daring students to dream big “This was an experience I needed because it CHANGED my perspective on LIFE and it made me see that there is HOPE for somebody like me that doesn’t really have much. It made me feel like I could MAKE SOMETHING of MYSELF even with a lot of odds against me.” —Jahmarciay Barr, 2012 ECMC Scholars Program scholarship recipient We challenge students to recognize their potential and dare them to dream big. Through innovative programs and scholarships, we help students plan and pay for college, succeed academically and achieve their dreams. ECMC Foundation is proud to be an ad sponsor for the Fifty Years of U.S. Presidential Scholars: In Pursuit of Excellence publication. For more information about ECMC Foundation, visit www.ecmcfoundation.org. I Letters Dear Fellow U.S. Presidential Scholars Alumni, A half-century! What an extraordinary milestone. Something that began as an idea over 50 years ago has transformed into one of the highest honors in the nation for graduating high school students. And what began as a loose group of individuals with a shared experience has coalesced into a vibrant and robust alumni association with over 6,500 members. Its ranks now include award-winning scientists, elected officials, Broadway stars, Hollywood actors, entrepreneurs, CEOs, lawyers, doctors, and teachers, among others. The U.S. Presidential Scholars Alumni Association was formed in 1996 with the goal of forging a whole that transcended the sum of its parts. In recent years, the Alumni Association has launched a number of exciting initiatives, including a mentorship program, a service week, college meet- ups, professional networking, and social gatherings, to name just a few. Presidential Scholars alumni have mentored one another, hired one another, worked alongside one another, funded one another’s companies, and performed with one another. In the years and decades to come, my hope is that new Scholars’ days in Washington, D.C., are just the beginning – an induction into a society of diverse and kindred spirits with whom they will interact throughout their entire lives. What Presidential Scholars have achieved as individuals is undoubtedly impressive. Our challenge for the next 50 years is to accomplish things together. By the time we publish our next book of memories, I hope it will tell the story of small groups of Presidential Scholars who collaborated with a sense of higher purpose: starting companies, publishing books, trying cases, teaching classes, collaborating on research, serving alongside one another, and maybe even saving lives. Together, we can be much more than talented individuals. Together, we can build things. Together, we can realize the promise and potential of the honor that President Johnson created 50 years ago to challenge us to do more.

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