White House Photo Gallery
Beginning in 1942, the White House has welcomed finalists from the Society for Science’s renowned science research competitions. These finalists have had the opportunity to meet with presidents, vice presidents and first ladies who were eager to promote STEM education and honor our nation’s young talent for developing solutions to society’s most urgent challenges.
This gallery was created to tell the story of the extraordinary relationship the Society has with the White House and their shared commitment to STEM research and scholarship in America.
We hope you draw inspiration as you explore these extraordinary photos. If you would like to share a photo of your visit to the White House as a finalist, please email alumni@societyforscience.org with “White House Gallery” in the subject line.
Please visit our Regeneron ISEF, Regeneron Science Talent Search and Thermo Fisher Scientific Junior Innovators Challenge (JIC) pages to learn more about the Society’s world-class science research competitions.
2015 STS finalist Anvita Gupta tells President Barack Obama about her project at the 2015 White House Science Fair. Gupta’s project involved teaching a computer to identify potential new drugs for treating chronic illnesses.
![2015 STS finalist Anvita Gupta presents her project to President Obama](https://www.societyforscience.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/2015_WHSF_Anvita_Gupta_President_Obama_1000.jpg)
![2015 STS finalist Anvita Gupta presents her project to President Obama](https://www.societyforscience.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/2015_WHSF_Anvita_Gupta_President_Obama.jpg)
2014 ISEF finalist Harry Paul presents his project to President Barack Obama at the 2015 White House Science Fair. For his project, Paul designed a spinal implant to help people with scoliosis avoid numerous operations.
![President Obama listens to Harry Paul discuss His project](https://www.societyforscience.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/2015_WHSF_Harry_Paul_President_Obama_1000.jpg)
![President Obama listens to Harry Paul discuss His project](https://www.societyforscience.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/2015_WHSF_Harry_Paul_President_Obama.jpg)
Nikhil Behari, a 2014 Broadcom MASTERS alumnus, meets President Barack Obama at the 2015 White House Science Fair. Behari presented his project on security systems for protecting online data to the president.
![President Obama stands with Nikhil Behari in front of his project](https://www.societyforscience.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/2015_WHSF_Nikhil_Behari_President_Obama_1000.jpg)
![President Obama stands with Nikhil Behari in front of his project](https://www.societyforscience.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/2015_WHSF_Nikhil_Behari_President_Obama.jpg)
President Barack Obama greets 2015 STS finalists Catherine J. Li, Jihyeon Lee, and Anya Michaelsen (from left to right) at the White House. For her project, Li explored particle fabrication, which has the potential to expedite the healing process after surgery.
![President Obama greets group of STS finalists](https://www.societyforscience.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/2015_PresObama_STS_Finalists.jpg)
![President Obama greets group of STS finalists](https://www.societyforscience.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/2015-03-11-Pres-Obama-Meeting-STS-Finalists.jpg)
President Barack Obama welcomes 2015 STS finalists to the White House. Finalist Noah Golowich (back row, third from left) developed a proof involving n-integers in the area of Ramsey theory for his project.
![President Obama stands with STS finalists at the White House](https://www.societyforscience.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/2015_STS_Alumni_Obama_1000.jpg)
![President Obama stands with STS finalists at the White House](https://www.societyforscience.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/2015_STS_Alumni_Obama.jpg)
2015 STS finalist Tanay Tandon meets President Barack Obama at the White House. For his project, Tandon developed a microscope lens smartphone attachment that analyzes blood samples to identify parasitic diseases.
![President Obama shakes hands with STS finalist Tanay Tandon](https://www.societyforscience.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/2015_STS_P031115PS-0741_1000.jpg)
![President Obama shakes hands with STS finalist Tanay Tandon](https://www.societyforscience.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/2015_STS_P031115PS-0741.jpg)
President Barack Obama shakes hands with 2015 STS finalist Michael Winer. Winer’s project, “Interactions of Electrons and Phonons in a Crystal,” showed that electrons emit fundamental units of sound when bombarded with sound waves.
![STS finalist Michael Winer meets President Obama](https://www.societyforscience.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/2015_STS_P031115PS-0730_1000.jpg)
![STS finalist Michael Winer meets President Obama](https://www.societyforscience.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/2015_STS_P031115PS-0730.jpg)
2015 STS finalist Yelena Mandelshtam shakes hands with President Barack Obama at the White House. For Mandelshtam’s mathematics project, she investigated the properties of totally positive matrices.
![STS finalist Yelena Mandelshtam meets President Obama](https://www.societyforscience.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/2015_STS_P031115PS-0724_1000.jpg)
![STS finalist Yelena Mandelshtam meets President Obama](https://www.societyforscience.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/2015_STS_P031115PS-0724.jpg)
President Barack Obama addresses 2015 STS finalists, including Andrew Jin (back row, fifth from left). Jin studied natural selection and used algorithms to identify adaptive mutations.
![President Obama addresses STS finalists at the White House](https://www.societyforscience.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/2015_STS_P031115PS-0685_1000.jpg)
![President Obama addresses STS finalists at the White House](https://www.societyforscience.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/2015_STS_P031115PS-0685.jpg)
President Barack Obama meets Society for Science CEO Maya Ajmera (second from left), Nobel Prize winner and former Society Board Chair Bob Horvitz (third from left), and other Society and Intel staff at the White House while welcoming the 2015 STS finalists
![President Obama meets the Society for Science team](https://www.societyforscience.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/2015_STS_Obama_1000.jpg)
![President Obama meets the Society for Science team](https://www.societyforscience.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/2015_STS_Obama.jpg)
President Barack Obama stands with participants of the 2016 White House Science Fair, the last of his administration. There were 23 alumni from STS, ISEF, and Broadcom MASTERS that participated.
![President Obama hosts the 2016 White House Science Fair](https://www.societyforscience.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/2016_WHSF_26724631910_1000.jpg)
![President Obama hosts the 2016 White House Science Fair](https://www.societyforscience.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/2016_WHSF_26724631910_o.jpg)
President Barack Obama welcomes participants to the 2016 White House Science Fair. Reflecting on his experiences over the years, he stated, “Some of the best moments that I’ve had as president have involved science and our annual science fair.”
![President Obama addresses White House Science Fair participants](https://www.societyforscience.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/2016_WHSF_26998381385_1000.jpg)
![President Obama addresses White House Science Fair participants](https://www.societyforscience.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/2016_WHSF_26998381385_o.jpg)
Senator Barack Obama learns about 2006 STS finalist Letian Zhang’s mathematics project. Zhang studied positive lattice points in an n-dimensional tetrahedra. This research helped him prove the General Estimate Granville-Lin-Yau conjecture.
![Letian Zhang presents his project to Senator Obama](https://www.societyforscience.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/2006_STS_Senator_Obama_Letian_Zhang_1000.jpg)
![Letian Zhang presents his project to Senator Obama](https://www.societyforscience.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/2006_STS_Senator_Obama_Letian_Zhang.jpg)