MARYVILLE, Mo. – Ruidi Cao, a student at Northwest Missouri State University’s Missouri Academy of Science, Mathematics and Computing, is one of 12 winners in the 2016 USA Mathematical Olympiad (USAMO).

Cao, of Changsha, China, and the other winners were selected out of 325 students who competed in this year’s USAMO, which is the pinnacle of high school mathematics contests administered by the Mathematical Association of America’s American Mathematics Competitions program.

The winners were honored Monday at an awards ceremony at the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C.

Cao now attends the Math Olympiad Summer Program and is eligible to represent the U.S. at the International Math Olympiad.

The Missouri Academy was established in 2000 as a two-year residential, early-entrance-to-college program on the Northwest campus. The program replaces the junior and senior year of high school. Graduates of the Missouri Academy receive an Associate of Science degree along with their high school diplomas.