Eighteen Shady Side Academy seniors were recognized for academic excellence by being inducted into the SSA Chapter of the Cum Laude Society at a virtual all-school assembly on Monday, April 27, 2020.

The major objective of the Cum Laude Society is to recognize student academic excellence. Each chapter may elect those members of the senior class who have had an honor record up to the time of election and who stand in the first fifth of their class. The individual chapter certifies honor record, academic honesty and class standing.

The 2019-2020 Cum Laude Society inductees are:

• Akshay Amesur
  
• Nicole Caputo
• Cameron Casey
  
• Maya Groff
• George Grune
  
• Aniket Kumta
  
• Trent Lane
• Julia Lazzaris
  
• Yuchen (David) Liang
• Sanjna Narayan
  
• Arusha Nirvan
• Arjun Patel
  
• Ahmer Shaikh
  
• John Uhlman
• Giri Viswanathan
• Yiwei Wang
• Daniel Xu
• Qilin (Leo) Ye
  

In the virtual assembly video, SSA President Bart Griffith '93 gave opening remarks, Cum Laude Chapter Secretary Dr. Kelly VandenBosche read the Cum Laude charter, and Senior School Head Sophie Lau read the inductees' names as their photos were displayed. Then, math teacher Michele Ament introduced alumna Jessica Cohen '05, who gave the Cum Laude address.

Cohen attended Shady Side from grades 6-12 and was elected class president in both her junior and senior years. After SSA, she earned a B.S. in economics from the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business and a joint M.B.A. and J.D. from Harvard University. During her career, she has worked in variety of senior management roles with Jet.com, Walmart, Moda Operandi and The Plum Guide, all in the New York City area.

Watch Jessica Cohen's Cum Laude address below:

Watch Senior School Head Sophie Lau announce the 18 Cum Laude Society inductees:

Congratulations to all!