The Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation announced its 2016 recipient Wednesday evening. Third-year Engineering student Jill Ferguson will receive a $30,000 scholarship toward a graduate school program of her choosing.
University President Teresa Sullivan revealed the news to Ferguson by calling her into her office at Madison Hall under the pretense of picking something up.
“I am incredibly humbled to have been surprised by President Sullivan herself that I had been chosen to fulfill Truman’s legacy, and I am driven to make the world a better place through service and education,” Ferguson said in an email statement. “Joining the Truman community is an honor and I look forward to the opportunity to learn from the other Truman Scholars.”
This year, there were a record number 775 candidates. From these candidates, 200 finalists and 54 recipients were selected. The candidates come from 305 colleges and universities throughout the United States.
All six University nominees were selected as finalists, including third-year College student Abraham Axler, third-year College student John Connolly, third-year College student Sarah Koch, third-year Commerce student William Henagan and third-year College student Lauren Jackson. Finalists were invited to interview in front of one of 16 of the Truman Foundation’s Regional Review Panels across the country.
Andrus Ashoo, associate director of the University’s Center for Undergraduate Excellence, said it is a great honor to be named as a finalist because it is an opportunity for growth and inspiration.
“It is the beginning of lifelong friendships and working relationships, extensions of the Truman community, toward a better future,” Ashoo said. “The Truman is among my favorite awards because the foundation attempts to live out its mission in everything that it does.”
The Truman Scholarship Foundation considers undergraduates in their third year who wish to pursue higher education and have identified problems in society they want to actively change. The Foundation recommends that applicants be involved in extracurriculars, leadership positions, community service and groups relevant to their desired career, while maintaining strong grades.
Fourth-year Engineering student Lia Cattaneo and fourth-year College student Russell Bogue were recipients of the Truman Scholarship in 2015.
“My class of Truman Scholars is the most diverse and thought-provoking group of people I've ever had the fortunate to meet. They are deeply passionate about issues from climate change to foster youth policy to Arab-Israeli relations and everything in between,” Cattaneo said in an email statement. “What I've valued most about my experience with the Truman Scholars program is that everyone is motivated by public service.”
Cattaneo spoke on being one of only two engineers in her class of 58 scholars and how excited she is about Ferguson, who is in the class below her, also being a recipient.
“People rarely see engineering as civic-minded profession. Jill is a very technical engineer, yet she constantly ensures that her work is contextualized and she advocates for policy solutions that complement her own technical ones,” Cattaneo said. “No one will put this scholarship to higher use than Jill, and I have no doubt that she'll inspire her class and generations of Trumans to come.”
The Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation was created by Congress in 1975 to be the nation’s living memorial to President Harry S. Truman and has a mission to select and support the next generation of public service leaders. The Truman award has become one of the most prestigious national scholarships in the United States, according to the foundation’s website.
The foundation is made possible through tax-deductible donations and regional panels that interview and select scholars in the final stages of the application process.
“On the day of the interview, a finalist will spend hours in a room with the other impressive future public servants from their region,” Ashoo said. “Each of them wants to be named a Truman Scholar, but by the end of the day each finalist also knows that it is an extremely difficult decision for the committee, which is tasked with excluding the majority of them from that honor.”
For students who receive the scholarship, the foundation offers programs in addition to the $30,000, including Truman Scholars’ Leadership Week, a summer institute and several fellows programs. These programs are meant to enrich students’ experiences as scholars through hands-on involvement and relationship building within the foundation.
“There is money involved with the Truman Scholarship, and it makes a difference to those who are named scholars,” Ashoo said. “However, without exception, every Truman Scholar I have ever known has valued much more the Truman Scholar community.”
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