Athens resident Marty Kellum was recognized as one of 20 students named to the prestigious and coveted USA Today’s 2006 Academic All-USA Community College First Team.

Kellum, along with the students comprising the Academic First, Second and Third teams, is featured in a full-page article published in Monday’s issue of USA Today.

Kellum is a math major at Calhoun Community College with a perfect 4.0 grade point average. He was recently honored by Phi Theta Kappa, the international honor society for two-year college students, as Alabama’s New Century Scholar for 2006.

As a New Century Scholar, Kellum is the highest scoring student from the state of Alabama in the All-USA Academic Team competition. He will receive a $2,000 cash award, funded by the Coca-Cola Foundation and the Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation.

Kellum is a member of the All-Alabama Academic First Team for 2006 and serves as a senator for the Student Government Association and as president for Sigma Kappa Delta, the international English honorary society for two-year colleges. He is a member of Phi Theta Kappa and a staff writer for the Warhawk Herald, Calhoun’s student newspaper. Kellum plans to transfer to The University of Alabama in Huntsville to pursue a double major in mathematics and physics, with a concentration in astrophysics. His ultimate goal is to obtain a Ph.D. in astrophysics and eventually teach college level physics, mathematics or both.

“I know I speak for the entire Calhoun Community College family when I say how very proud we are of Marty and this tremendous honor,” said Calhoun President Marilyn Beck. “Marty was selected from among thousands of two-year college students as one of the nation’s top 20. This accomplishment speaks highly of his academic ability and outstanding talent.”

This marks the seventh time a Calhoun Community College student has been recognized as one of the top two-year college students in the country.