PCC students earn national academic honors

TUCSON, AZ (Tucson News Now) - Two Pima Community Colleges students have received top honors from the international Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society.

Alex Martinez Figueroa and Eduardo Lujan Olivas were selected as members of the 2016 All-USA Community College Academic Team.

Only 20 students from more than 1,900 nominees were selected for this prestigious honor. The All-USA Community College Academic Team is sponsored by the Follett Higher Education Group and presented by USA Today with additional support provided by the American Association of Community Colleges and Phi Theta Kappa.

"We couldn't be more proud of these two young men," Chancellor Lee D. Lambert said. "It's a tribute both to their excellence as students and the excellence of the academics at PCC that we produced two of the top 20 community college scholars in the country."

Figueroa, who was the nominee from Desert Vista Campus, plans to continue his studies at UA and become a surgeon. Olivas, the nominee from East Campus plans to study at Arizona State University and become a lawyer.

The students were each presented with a $5,000 scholarship and a special medallion during the annual President's Breakfast at the American Association of Community Colleges Convention this morning. They were also featured in a special edition section of the USA Today newspaper.

Additionally, Alex was named as a 2016 Coca-Cola New Century Scholar, an honor that carries with it a $2,000 scholarship and a plaque.