Four Named Academic All-Stars

The Feb. 15 issue of USA TODAY named four Harvard seniors to the All-USA College Academic Teams, an honor given annually to outstanding undergraduates.

Kevin S. Schwartz '01 was named to the first team while Sean L. Bennett '01, Dorothy Weiss '01 and Robert F. Luo '00-'01 who were named to the second team.

The 20 students named to each team were chosen from among 682 students nominated by their colleges and were selected based upon their grades, extracurricular activities leadership abilities.

"We honor these students for their academic excellence as well as their willingness to put those talents to use in their communities and throughout the world," Karen Jurgensen, editor of USA TODAY said.

Schwartz, a Crimson editor and Kirkland House resident, was one of only two Ivy-League students named to the first team, an award which comes with a $2,500 cash prize. The Government concentrator is currently working on his thesis comparing disability rights in the US and Britain.

As a Marshall Scholar, Schwartz will spend the next two years studying at Oxford. He also plans to continue the work he has done with the Phillips-Brooks House Association's small claims advisory committee by attending law school after his time at Oxford.

Few of Schwartz's friends were surprised by the award, citing the enormous amount of work he does both in and out of school.

"Nothing Kevin does surprises me anymore," said Schwartz's roommate Joel D. Rosenbaum '01, "Kevin is truly a standout among students at Harvard."

"He's a remarkably energetic person," said Schwartz's entryway tutor Srinivas P. Gandhi '88.

"While you're sleeping he is making phone calls, and organizing activities," Gandhi continued.

Community service has always been important to Schwartz. He recently created a program in his hometown of East Hills, NY to help immigrants pass the US citizenship exam.

In the future Schwartz hopes to work for the government and continue his service work.

"I am very passionate about government and I hope to someday use all of these experiences to give back to my community," said Schwartz.

Luo was not in the country for the publication of the academic awards.

The History and Science and East Asian Studies concentrator will be in Kuala Lumpur until August working for the Malaysian AIDS Council working to develop programs to slow the spread of HIV and AIDS in Malaysia.

During college, Luo also took off a semester to work for an HIV/AIDS prevention program in South Africa. Luo will return to the US this fall to attend Johns Hopkins medical school.

"As a doctor, I hope to care for people living with HIV, as well as work on AIDS education and prevention in both the US and the developing world," Luo wrote in an e-mail message.

For Weiss the application process and waiting to find out if she had been chosen was not a major concern.

"I was on the first team in high school, so I felt like I had done it before. It was definitely not as complex as a medical school application" Weiss said.

Like Schwartz, Weiss is also concerned with disabilities, and founded EMPOWER, a group working for advocacy and awareness of disabled students at Harvard.

Bennett, a Pforzheimer House resident, is a Cognative Neuro-Science major and is currently working on a thesis which deals with why certain songs become stuck in people's heads more easily than others.

The founder of Harvard's BOND support group and a National Chopin Competition winner, Bennett actually had to spend 5 years in college.

"I went to Depaul for 2 years but I had to transfer as a sophomore becasue Harvard didn't accept my piano credits," Bennett quipped.

All four students expressed their surprise at being chosen and were grateful for the award.

"I have just been amazed at what many of the winners have done and it has been an honor," Weiss said.