Twenty-eight top-ranked high school juniors and companies from around the state were honored last week at an awards luncheon celebrating their participation in the CEO Summer Intern Program.

The students, their families and business leaders attended the event that took place at the Alumni House and the William Benton Museum of Art. President Philip E. Austin hosted the event.

The CEO Summer Intern Program is designed to preserve the depth and quality of Connecticut's future leadership pool by encouraging top high school students to attend Connecticut colleges and, ultimately, enter the Connecticut work force.

Governor John Rowland and Commissioner of Economic and Community Development James Abromaitis, who is a member of UConn's Board of Trustees, joined forces with CEOs of Connecticut companies to establish the program.

Abromaitis says the program highlights Connecticut businesses to people who will be the future leaders, and is an opportunity for the University "to showcase itself and be on the minds of the best and brightest students coming up through the ranks."

University officials hope the program will encourage participating students to apply to UConn.

"The research on college choice is that visiting a college campus is one of the most important components of a student's decision about where they will attend school," says M. Dolan Evanovich, associate provost for enrollment management. "Having these students here on campus was a wonderful opportunity for us to begin the recruiting process."

Students selected to participate in the program are at the top of their classes academically. Each CEO designs a challenging summer job for a selected student, and meets with the student on at least three occasions during the internship. Students receive a stipend for their work.

Twenty-eight students and 23 companies participated in this year's program.

Sherry Fisher