White House Photo Gallery

President Bill Clinton welcomes STS finalist Moon Duchin to the White House in 1993. Duchin later recalled, “Meeting President Bill Clinton (who seemed larger in person than on TV!) was definitely a memorable part of the Westinghouse STS experience.”

1993 STS finalist Lea Potts shakes hands with President Bill Clinton in the Grand Foyer of the White House. Potts’ project was titled, “Polycrystalline Polyptych Diamond Matriciation.”

President Bill Clinton poses with 1993 STS finalists in the White House Grand Foyer. The top winner that year, Elizabeth Pine, compared the DNA of two groups of fungi— mushrooms and false truffles.

1993 STS finalist Wei-Hwa Huang meets President Bill Clinton at the White House. “I did not actually shake his hand,” Huang recalled, “because I was trying to stand out.” Instead, Huang made an impression by giving Clinton a homemade crossword puzzle, having read that he was a big fan of them.

1993 STS finalist Wei-Hwa Huang, now an award-winning puzzler, gave the first crossword puzzle he ever made to President Bill Clinton when they met at the White House. The president later sent Huang a signed and completed copy of the puzzle in the mail.

An image of President Bill Clinton’s meeting with STS finalists in an article from the March 13, 1993, edition of Science News. The article details the research of the top 10 1993 finalists.

President Bill Clinton and Vice President Al Gore pose with 1994 STS finalists. Prior to attending the Science Talent Institute, an article on finalist Jamel Oeser-Sweat (back row, second from right) appeared in the New York Times. When they met, Clinton told Jamel that he had read the article.

STS finalists pose for a photo with President George W. Bush on the White House lawn in 2001. The top winner that year, Mariangela Lisanti (third row, fourth from left), studied electron transport in nanostructures. Hayley Barna (kneeling, second from right) is now a member of the Society’s Board.

STS finalists with Vice President Dick Cheney at the 2001 Awards Gala. In his speech at the gala, Cheney stated, “Doing well in this competition is a strong indicator of future achievement. The sun is just now rising over your professional lives.”

Society staff member Tzeitel Fetter Hirni meets President George W. Bush at the White House in 2001. After meeting with the STS finalists in the Rose Garden, President Bush invited the group into the Oval Office.

2002 STS finalists and program staff meet with President George W. Bush at the White House. After the students’ meeting with the president, they watched him take off in his helicopter from the White House South Lawn.

STS finalists pose with Vice President Dick Cheney in 2003. Sixteen-year-old Jamie Rubin (third row, far left) won the top prize that year for developing a way to describe enzymes of the fungus Candida albicans, a common cause of yeast infections.