Cianfaglione, Wang earn Merit College-Sponsored Merit Scholarships

MADISON – Brandon Cianfaglione and Isaac L. Wang of Madison are among 1,000-plus additional winners of National Merit Scholarships financed by colleges and universities.

Cianfaglione and Wang join other college-sponsored award recipients that National Merit Scholarship Corporation, headquartered in Evanston, Ill., announced in June.

Officials of each sponsor college selected their scholarship winners from among the finalists in the National Merit Scholarship Program who will attend their institution. College-sponsored awards provide between $500 and $2,000 annually for up to four years of undergraduate study at the institution.

This year, 160 colleges and universities are sponsoring more than 4,100 Merit Scholarship awards. Sponsor colleges include 85 private and 75 public institutions located in 42 states and the District of Columbia.

Cianfaglione and Wang are in the last group of National Merit Scholar designees in 2021 announcements. In three spring releases, the corporation announced winners of Corporate-Sponsored Merit Scholarship awards, National Merit $2,500 Scholarship awards and the first group of College-Sponsored Merit Scholarship awards.

Cianfaglione is a Madison resident and attends St. John Paul II Catholic High School in Huntsville. He received the National Merit University of Alabama at Birmingham Scholarship.

UAB is a comprehensive urban research university and academic health center with enrollment exceeding 16,000 students. UAB is the only university in Alabama to earn top ranking (Research University I) in the Carnegie Foundation’s classifications of colleges and universities.

Cianfaglione’s probable career field is biomedical engineering.

Wang is a student at Bob Jones High School. He won the National Merit University Of Southern California Scholarship.

USC, a private, coeducational and nonsectarian school, is located in Los Angeles, Calif. With undergraduate enrollment at about 14,000 students, USC is a College of Letters, Arts and Sciences with 19 professional and graduate schools.

Wang’s career choice is computer science.

To become a finalist, each semifinalist had to complete a detailed scholarship application, which included writing an essay, describing leadership positions and contributions in school and community activities, showing an outstanding academic record and holding endorsement from a high school official.

Founded in 1955, National Merit Scholarship Corporation is a not-for-profit corporation that operates without government assistance. Independent corporate and college sponsors underwrite most awards and support the corporation in recognizing scholastically talented youth and encourage the pursuit of academic excellence.

For more information, visit nationalmerit.org.