Sherry Gong named Clay Olympiad Scholar, June 27, 2005
Miss Sherry Gong, a 10th grade student at Phillips Exeter Academy, was named the 2005 Clay Olympiad Scholar at a ceremony in Washington DC on June 27, 2005.
The Clay Olympiad Scholar Award recognizes the most original solution to a problem on the US American Mathematics Olympiad (USAMO). It consists of a commemorative plaque and cash award to the recipient, and a cash award to the recipients' school. The award is presented each year at the official awards dinnner for the USAMO held in June in Washington, DC at the State Department Ballroom.
Sherry Gong, daughter of Guhua Gong and Liangqing Li of San Juan, Puerto Rico, attended schools in Puerto Rico until this last year when she enrolled at Phillps Exeter Academy in Exeter, New Hampshire. Sherry attended a mathematics olympiad for the first time when she was in the sixth grade — the 3rd Olympiada Matematica de Centroamerica y el Caribe. There Sherry received a silver medal and also a special award for the most original solution. It was the first such award in the history of this olympiad. Sherry received a silver medal the next year at the same olympiad, and in 2003 she received a gold medal at the XVIII Olympiada Iberoamericana de Matematicas. She also received a bronze medal in the 44th IMO (2003) and and a silver medal in the 45th IMO (2004).
In addition to mathematics, Sherry is interested in physics and computer programming. She won a position in the 24-member USA Physics Olympiad Team (2005). She enjoys seeing the connection between physics and mathematics, and she likes to find her own solutions when given a math or physics problem.
Sherry won the State Championship for the Geo Bee and represented Puerto Rico in the National Geo Bee in Washington DC (2002). She also likes karate, poetry and reading.
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