When USA Today created their all-USA College Academic Teams, the judges cited three Penn students, named in the Feb. 17 issue, for their outstanding academics and leadership, in and beyond the classroom.

Of 828 students nominated by colleges across the country, Andrew March was selected for the highest honor — named to the First All-USA College Academic Team, along with 19 other students.

March, also a Marshall scholar (Current, Feb. 3), speaks 12 languages and has used his facility with languages to explore ethnoseparatist conflicts in hot spots like Kosovo. March, who hails from Falmouth, Maine, has a triple major in history, political science and Islamic studies. He and the other First Team members will receive $2,500 apiece.

“I have a son so I need it,” he e-mailed us, and expressed wonder at how he made the final cut. “I have only had any success in academic/analytic things. Many of [the other winners] were just as talented in academics, but also did music, arts, community activity and so on. …I do feel like I’m involved in some big practical joke (the Marshall, USA Today, etc.) that only I and people that know me will get.”

Community activities were big items on the resumes of the two other honorees.

Truman scholar Sarah Zimbler (C’00, Current, May 13), who was named to the Third Team, and Kristina Herbert, named as an honorable mention, both have spent their time at Penn volunteering both on and off campus as well as earning astronomical academic averages.

Zimbler, a team leader in the West Philadelphia Tutoring Project, was cited for helping to develop PENNlincs, in which undergraduates help teach science in public elementary schools in Philadelphia. She is majoring in history and English. Her home town is Winnetka, Ill.

Herbert, who majors in biochemistry and biophysics, tutors with TEACH West Philadelphia, serves as a peer advisor for 20 students in the Vagelos Scholars Program, and runs seminars for the Biochemistry Club. A recipient of the Roy and Marianthi Vagelos Scholarship, she has been pursuing DNA research in the laboratory of Professor of Chemistry Ponzy Lu. She comes from North Wales, Pa.