By some standards, Charles Du is a typical high school senior: he enjoys hanging out with friends, playing sports video games, and fishing. He is on Twitter and the varsity tennis team. By other measures, though, he’s extraordinary. He spent last summer in a lab at U of MN’s Lillehei Heart Institute, researching gene involvement in muscular dystrophy; his work at the U earned him national recognition as a semifinalist in the Siemens Math, Science, and Technology Competition. Equally versed in economics as science, he and his partner advanced to the finals in the DemandTec Retail Challenge, winning a scholarship and a trip to NASDAQ in New York.
“Charles is outstanding at assessing a broad range of information, cutting out the noise, focusing on the key elements, and adjusting the strategy accordingly, very quickly,” says IB Econ teacher, Chris Pears. Du is interested in applications beyond finance, including developing economies. “Economics is understanding how the world works,” he says.
Drawn to leadership positions, Du is captain of Quiz Bowl, Science Bowl, and Math Team, and he is the president of National Honor Society. A straight-A student, National AP Scholar, and National Merit Semifinalist, Du also makes time to coach writing in the Writing Center, and volunteer at the Ridgeview Medical Center and Chanhassen Library.
Next year, Charles will begin a joint engineering/economics degree in the prestigious Jerome Fisher School of Technology and Management at Penn’s Wharton School of Business. He could see himself living in New York City someday, in a career that draws on his dual interests in economics and science.
Du looks up to his older sister Erica, (MHS ’09), who is studying computer science at MIT, and his parents, who immigrated from China and have always emphasized the importance of education and a strong work ethic.
Written by Maggie Shea
