Omer Faruk Tekin

Dr. Tekin (​1990-2019) was a former Math Olympian and an A-Star Faculty.
In high school he won a Gold medal in the International Mathematics Olympiads 2008. He taught at A-Star Summer Math camps in the early 2010’s. After receiving a PhD from UCLA Mathematics Department in 2016 he started working at Google in the San Francisco Bay Area.
He inspired many students to work hard to reach their full potentials and will always be remembered with his smile and great passion for Math.

Maryam Mirzakhani

in partnership with

Professor Mirzakhani (12 May 1977 – 14 July 2017) was the first female Fields Medalist, the most prestigious award for mathematicians. She was a professor at Stanford University Mathematics Department. She received Fields medal in 2014. She was a great inspiration for girls everywhere and her name and life will continue inspiring current and future generation of girls in understanding that with great passion and hard work, you can achieve anything.

Kent Merryfield

Professor Merryfield was a Professor at CSULB Mathematics Department between 1988 and 2018. He had tremendous contributions to the math society for many many years:

He prepared students for Putnam competition. He formed and coached teams from southern California for American Regional Math League for 17 years between 2002 and 2018. He was the organizer of Math Day at the Beach between 2000 and 2018, an annual math contest for high school students in Orange County. 

Carina Scholarship Program

AlphaStar Academy is partnered with Carina Initiatives to support, train, and motivate talented low-income students for long-term success. We aim to boost their presence in higher academic echelons, particularly in Computer Science and Math Olympiads, opening up a world of possibilities for their future.

This is a 3-year fellowship  program (2025-2028) that starts at the grade 6 and finishes at end of the grade 8. The students who are in grade 5 in 2024-25 can apply this scholarship.

The goal for each student in the program is to reach the USA Computing Olympiad (USACO) Silver division or similar level at the end 8th grade.

Eligibility requires to be receiving free or reduced lunch, or to be classified as low-income by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). As an example, a student from a family of four in Santa Clara County, CA with income less than $146K is eligible for the scholarship.

In terms of academics, the student must be above the grade level with respect to the state tests, or identified as gifted, or 97th percentile or higher in a common IQ test.