(Front row) Sally Junkins, Andre Duvoisin of Allen, Allen High School; Zack Stevens of McKinney, McKinney Boyd High School; Becky Shaw of Plano, John Paul II High School; Jennifer Zotz of McKinney, McKinney High School; Kirsten Junkins Kerrigan. (Back row) Greg Delagi, TI senior vice president; Christine Shaw of Plano, John Paul II High School; Joseph Tessmer of Richardson, J.J. Pearce High School; Daniel Gomez of Plano, Plano Senior High School; Richard Lyne of Fairview, Lovejoy High School; Andrew Bain of Dallas, Jesuit College Preparatory School; Karen Junkins Lobdell and Trisha Cunningham, TI chief citizenship officer.

Twenty-four top students were awarded 2012 Jerry R. Junkins Memorial National Merit Scholarships® at a luncheon recently at the company's headquarters in Dallas.

The scholarships, named in honor of TI's late chairman, president and CEO Jerry Junkins, are awarded to National Merit Scholarship Program finalists who are sons or daughters of active, retired or deceased TI employees.

Since its inception in 1996, TI's Junkins Merit Scholarship program has given 286 scholarships amounting to more than $1.1 million.

"From academics to athletics to leadership to service, these students set the standard for their schools and beyond," said Greg Delagi, senior vice president and worldwide manager of TI's Wireless Business.

"I have no doubt that the diligence, tenacity, maturity and sheer work ethic of these students will lead them to great success, and it is encouraging to know the world will be in such capable hands in the future."

TI engineer Scott Shaw and his wife, Lily, attended the luncheon at which their two daughters were honored.

"I'm immensely proud of each of my daughters, Christine and Rebecca, for putting in the work and study time it took to achieve the National Merit Scholarship finalist status," Shaw said. "It was really an honor to see them accept the award from Texas Instruments."

He said the award was especially meaningful to him because he had the pleasure of meeting Junkins at a roundtable lunch in the 1990s. At that roundtable session, Junkins shared what TI was doing for a school in a low-income area of Dallas.

"His passion for education was evident in his conversation, and it's terrific to see that passion live on."

Shaw's daughters will head to Rice University in Houston in the fall.

"I'm proud to work for a company that recognizes the achievement of our children, and thankful," Shaw said.

TI employee Gabriel Gomez, and his wife, Diana Mejia, talked about how proud they are of their son, Daniel, and how grateful they are to TI for recognizing Daniel's achievements.

"We're especially proud that he has been successful even as he has dealt with having diabetes," Diana said. "He has worked so hard." Gabriel said Daniel has shared his story with the Juvenile Diabetes Research Fund campaign team at TI.

Daniel will attend the California Institute of Technology in the fall, studying biomedical engineering.

The 19 Texas students honored for their academic accomplishments this year are:

• Andrew Bain of Dallas, Jesuit College Preparatory School.
• Ryan Bartling of Plano, Texas Academy of Math and Science.
• Michael Duncan of Richmond, Foster High School.
• Andre Duvoisin of Allen, Allen High School.
• Daniel Gomez of Plano, Plano Senior High School.
• Charles Jin of Plano, St. Mark's School of Texas.
• Yu-Chun Lin of Plano, Plano Senior High School.
• Richard Lyne of Fairview, Lovejoy High School.
• Yuhui Pang of The Colony, The Colony High School.
• James Pham of Sugar Land, St. John's School.
• Shalini Ranmuthu of Plano, Plano Senior High School.
• Benjamin Russell of McKinney, McKinney Boyd High School.
• Christine Shaw of Plano, John Paul II High School.
• Rebecca Shaw of Plano, John Paul II High School.
• Zachary Stevens of McKinney, McKinney Boyd High School.
• Joseph Tessmer of Richardson, J.J. Pearce High School.
• James Tsao of Garland, Garland High School.
• Jessie Zhou of Plano, Plano Senior High School.
• Jennifer Zotz of McKinney, McKinney High School.

• Kaustav Gopinathan of Bangalore, India, Indus International School.
• Revanth Kosaraju of Saratoga, Calif., Harker School.
• Dianwen Li of Cary, N.C., Green Hope High School.
• Vivian Vu of San Jose, Calif., Piedmont Hills High School.
• Pete Yeh of Cupertino, Calif., Monta Vista High School.