Jordan Cozby, a junior at Bob Jones High School, is a finalist in Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s INSPIRE program. (CONTRIBUTED)

MADISON – Jordan Cozby, a junior at Bob Jones High School, is a finalist in Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s INSPIRE program, a national competition in the arts, humanities and social sciences.

The INSPIRE acronym represents “Inspiring the Nation’s Students to Pursue Innovative Research.”

INSPIRE is the first national research competition for high school students that is focused entirely on the humanities, arts and social sciences. MIT School of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences; Council of the Arts; and other groups organized the contest.

In the preliminary round, the competition involved online submission of research projects. Judges have selected approximately 100 finalists for the final round on the MIT campus in Cambridge, Mass. on April 4-9.

INSPIRE’s objective is to harness students’ interest for original inquiry into a unique topic in one of 13 disciplines and connect them with peers of similar interests across the United States.

In other honors, Cozby was selected as a delegate to the 53rd annual United States Senate Youth Program and received the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) citizenship award.

At Bob Jones, Cozby serves as captain of the Debate Team; he ranked in first place individually for extemporaneous speech at the Decatur Heritage Christian Academy meet. He serves on the Student Government Association’s Executive Board. During the 2012 election, he was an organizer with Obama for America.

He works as an instructor for the Eat Pie Institute of Mathematics. Cozby is an acolyte and lector at the Church of the Nativity in Huntsville and a member of the United Way Youth Council.

Currently, he is communications director for High School Democrats of America. Cozby has served as an Alabama State House and Senate page. He writes political commentary that has appeared in numerous publications, including the “The Huffington Post.”

His parents are Robin Cozby and Marilyn Lands.

For more information, visit getinspired.mit.edu.