Biology Olympiad gold won by David Huang

By Mary Alice Garrett

This story originally appeared October 16, 2008 in The News Journal of Wilmington, Delware.

Nothing satisfies David Huang like a gold medal in an academic competition.

The 16-year-old recently captured a gold medal in the International Biology Olympiad, an event that brought together top young biology students from 55 nations in Mumbai, India. Huang, a junior at the Charter School of Wilmington, was a member of Team USA, which placed first in the world in the competition. All four team members received a gold medal.

Huang's teachers at Charter were not surprised. "When I've worked with David, he has said, 'I don't want silver. I want gold,'" said biology teacher and coach Beenu Gupta.

"He's a very talented kid. I found out his potential. He likes to know the depth of everything. I'm extremely proud of his achievement."

Gupta noted that students like Huang have the knowledge to compete nationally and internationally, and it is their teachers who direct them. "I take them to the next level in competitions," Gupta added.

Advanced placement math teacher Mary Beth Coté agrees with Gupta.

"David is a wonderful young man. He's very, very smart. He has a subtle sense of humor. He works very well with others. I'm very pleased to get to know him and to be able to teach him," Coté said. "It's really a pleasure to be able to work with students like David and watch how they mature."

Huang has taken two calculus courses with Coté and has just begun a third this semester. He's also a member of Charter's winning Math League and Academic Pool, which came in second nationally last year.

Not surprisingly, biology and math are Huang's favorite subjects. His gift for math showed up when he was a fourth-grader in Coral Springs, Fla., where the Huangs used to live. David's teacher asked Huang's mother, Shuchen Huang, to bring him to school 30 minutes early so he could work with him one-on-one in math. She did, and soon, Huang was solving algebraic equations. "We were very appreciative of him," said Shuchen Huang.

After elementary school, the Huang family moved to Delaware and David entered H.B. duPont Middle School. David joined H.B.'s Science Olympiad Team. He became a member of Charter's Science Olympiad when he enrolled there as a ninth-grader.

To qualify for Team USA, Huang first had to qualify for the USA Biology Olympiad held in May at George Mason University in Virginia. He was among 10,000 students nationwide nominated by their teachers to take an examination. The top 10 percent were then eligible to take a semifinal exam. From this number, 20 semifinalists were invited to compete at the Olympiad at George Mason. This consisted of two weeks of theoretical and practical tutorials where students worked with leading biologists on plant anatomy, genetics, evolution and other sciences.

At the conclusion of the tutorials, students took two more exams to compete for one of four places on Team USA. Huang was chosen along with two students from Maryland and one from Washington state.

After an intensive training process, team members flew to Mumbai in July for the International Biology Olympiad. Huang said the final event was "the same kind of competition, but harder." He spent a week in India. "It's really interesting. It's very different there."

"I am particularly excited about Team USA and its success in winning four gold medals," said Joann DiGennaro, president of the sponsoring Center for Excellence in Education. "This was the youngest group of U.S. biology students to be sent to the International Biology Olympiad. ... I am so very proud of these fine students."

Since returning to Delaware, Huang was invited to U.S. Rep. Mike Castle's Wilmington Office to receive a certificate of achievement. Castle asked Huang for a sample biology question and said he was impressed with his knowledge.

Huang said he would encourage other students to enter competitions such as Biology and Science Olympiads.

When he's not reading chemistry journals, Huang plays the piano. He seldom watches TV -- the family's set is currently broken. When Huang does tune in, he enjoys "The Simpsons."

Huang has studied the piano since he was five. He is a scholarship student at the Wilmington Music School.

Volunteering with the Tduchi Foundation, Huang visits local nursing homes, where he demonstrates Chinese yo-yos and plays the piano for residents.

Huang said he will probably compete in the Biology Olympiad next year. He is unsure of a college major but is leaning toward the sciences. He said he will probably apply to Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.