Arcadia Student to Compete for a Spot on US International Chemistry Olympiad Team

National chemistry champion Timothy Man Hay Lee has qualified to compete for one of four spots on the U.S. team bound for the 44th annual International Chemistry Olympiad (IChO). A senior at ArcadiaHigh School, he is one of only 20 students nation-wide invited to a two-week intensive study camp at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado. Timothy attended the study camp in 2010 and 2011; this fall, he will attend StanfordUniversity, pursuing a degree in one of the sciences.
The competition to be part of the international event is fierce, beginning with a three-part exam taken by at least 12,000 high school students in the U.S. Timothy’s performance on this exam resulted in the opportunity to take the National Chemistry Olympiad test. Out of more than 1,000 of the nation’s brightest chemistry students who took the national test, he advanced to the top 20 and next he will be heading to the study camp being held June 5-20.

. “Timothy Lee is one of the brightest chemistry students I had in my teaching career. He loves chemistry, likes working as part of a team, and enjoys the thrill of competition,” said Cherryl Mynster, his AP Chemistry teacher and Science Bowl coach. “This is the ninth time since 2003 that Arcadia High School has a student qualifying for the study camp and it has been seven years since Arcadia High School had a student represent the U.S. in the International Chemistry Olympiad. I’m excited about Timothy’s chances of being part of the U.S. Chemistry Olympiad Team!”

“The students who compete in the IChO are the brightest minds in chemistry,” said ACS president Bassam Shakhashiri. “These young people are the ones who will make the discoveries that shape our future by curing disease, addressing climate change, feeding our rapidly expanding population and much more.”

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