The top achievers of Cal State Northridge's Class of 2006 will be saluted at the university's annual Honors Convocation at 6 p.m. Tues., May 30 on the lawn of the University Club on the southwest corner of the campus at Nordhoff Street and Zelzah Avenue.

CSUN's highest honor for a graduating senior, the Wolfson Scholar award, will go to Simi Valley resident Louise Scharf, a finance and business honors major. In September, Scharf will begin work on a doctorate in molecular biology at the University of Chicago.

Scharf maintained a 3.97 grade point average while holding leadership positions in the Business Honors Association and the Business Honors Student Advisory Committee.

Scharf was raised in East Germany by her father, a physicist at Martin Luther University in Halle, and her mother, a physician.

"In Germany it was hard as a woman, especially a young woman, to be successful," said Scharf, who arrived in the U.S. with husband Rene Limberger four years ago. "One of the things I like about CSUN and the American undergraduate curriculum is that you can explore different things."

Encouraged by associate professor of biology Stan Metzenberg, whose classes inspired her to delve into scientific inquiry, Scharf has decided on a career in academic research.