Truman Scholarship
|
President Harry S. Truman |
The
Harry S. Truman Scholarship is a federal scholarship granted to U.S. college juniors for demonstrated leadership potential and a commitment to public service.
Congress created the scholarship in
1975 as a living memorial to the 33rd president of the United States. Instead of a statue, the Truman Scholarship is the official federal memorial to its
namesake president.
On
May 30,
1974, Senator
Stuart Symington of
Missouri sponsored
:S.3548, formally titled "A bill to establish the Harry S. Truman Memorial Scholarships." Symington held the same
Class 1 Senate seat that Truman had held from
1935-
1945 before becoming
Vice President. The
Senate passed the bill on
August 2, and the
House followed suit on
December 17. Two similar House bills,
:H.R.15138 sponsored by
William J. Randall of
Missouri and
:H.R.17481 sponsored by
James G. O'Hara of
Michigan, were set aside in favor of Symington's bill.
The bill was signed by
President Gerald Ford and enacted as Public Law 93-642 on
January 4,
1975 and entered the as
United States Statutes at Large as 88 Stat. 2276-2280, and the
United States Code as
20 U.S.C. 2001-2013. It now operates as Program 85.001, governed by
45 CFR 1801 as published in the
Code of Federal Regulations in the
Federal Register.
The Truman Scholarship is administered by the
Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation, an independent federal executive branch agency. It is governed by a 13-member Board of Trustees headed by President
Madeleine Albright. Eight members are appointed by the U.S. President, including a state governor, a city or county chief executive, a federal judge, a state judge, a representative of higher education, and three members of the public. The remainder of the board is comprised of two Senators, two Representatives, and the
United States Secretary of Education (ex-officio). [
1] The Foundation's operations are overseen by full-time Executive Secretary
Frederick G. Slabach. Its endowment, which takes the form of a federal trust fund held in the
U.S. Department of the Treasury, is $55 million.
The scholarship is awarded to approximately 70-75 U.S. college juniors each year on the basis of
four criteria: service on campus and in the community, commitment to a career in public service (government, uniformed services, research, education, or public interest/advocacy organizations), communication ability and aptitude to be a "change agent," and academic talent that would assure acceptance to a first-rate graduate school. More broadly, Truman Scholars possess intellect, leadership skills, and passion that would make them a likely force for the public good in any field. [
2]
Candidates are selected after completing a written application and a finalist interview. Roughly six hundred to seven hundred students are nominated by their school (no school may nominate more than four), and 70-75 are selected. [
3] No particular career, service interest, or policy field is preferred during the process. Furthermore, the Truman Scholarship is often awarded to students from schools that have never before had a Truman Scholar. [
4]
Scholars currently receive an award of $30,000 going towards up to three years of graduate education leading to a career in the public service. [
5] Winners also benefit from a network of other scholars, which is encouraged by the Truman Scholars Leadership Week at
William Jewell College in
Liberty and the
Truman Library in
Independence, during which newly minted scholars collaborate on policy projects. Following their senior year, roughly half of scholars accept a 10-week Summer Institute internship in
Washington, D.C., which features additional professional development training. Of this group, a small number continue federal agency internships for a full year as part of the Truman Fellows program. Those enrolled in law school also benefit from the Public Service Law Conference for students between their first and second years.
Certain graduate and professional schools give some degree of priority and funding to applicants who are Truman Scholars. Truman Scholars are exempt from taking the written section of the
Foreign Service Exam.
See also: Truman Scholars category1970s
* Ernest Calderon (1977), Member of the
University of Arizona Board of Regents [
6]
* Shelby Chodos (1977), Managing director of Commonwealth Capital Partners [
7]
*
Janet Napolitano (1977), Governor of the State of
Arizona, 2003-
* Frederick G. Slabach (1977), Executive Secretary of the Truman Scholarship Foundation
* Howard Hawk (1978), District Judge,
Marshall County, Alabama [
8]
* Peter S. Stamos (1978), head of investment firm Sterling and Stamos
* Dwight Diveley (1978), Director of Finance for the City of
Seattle [
9]
* Keith B. Richburg (1978), Author; correspondent for the
Washington Post [
10]
1980s
* Mark R. Haskell (1980), Member of the
Supreme Court Bar [
11]
*
Jeffrey Toobin (1980), senior legal analyst for
CNN and staff writer at
The New Yorker* David Adkins (1981), Vice-Chancellor of the
University of Kansas Medical Center
* Linda Epperly (1981), Assistant
United States Attorney for
Oklahoma*
George Stephanopoulos (1981), broadcaster and political advisor
* David Cooley (1982), Deputy Governor of
Tennessee* Matt Crowl (1982), Deputy Chief of Staff to the
Mayor of Chicago*
Russ Dallen (1982), Editor-in-chief of The
Daily Journal* Leslie Koch (1982), President of the
Governors Island Preservation and Education Corporation [
12]
* Laurel McFarland (1982), Executive Director, National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration [
13]
* Andra Samoa (1982), CEO of
American Samoa Power Authority [
14]
*
Chris Coons (1983), County Executive,
New Castle County,
Delaware* Todd F. Gaziano (1983), Director of the Center for Legal & Judicial Studies at the
Heritage Foundation [
15]
* Luis Ubinas (1983), Director of McKinsey San Franciso Office [
16]
* William Mercer (1984),
United States Attorney for
Montana* William E. Thro (1984), Solicitor General for the Commonwealth of
Virginia [
17]
* Autumn Fiester (1986), Senior Fellow at the Center for
Bioethics at the
University of Pennsylvania [
18]
* Maryam Banikarim (1987), Chief Marketing Officer at
Univision [
19]
*
Neil Gorsuch (1987), Circuit Judge for the
United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit* Thomas A. Gaziano (1988), Instructor of Medicine at
Harvard Medical School [
20]
* Catherine Sheehan (1989), Deputy Assistant Inspector General at the
Department of Justice [
21]
1990s
* Maj. John Carr (1993), former
United States Air Force prosecutor at the
Guantanamo Bay detainment camp [
22]
* Stacey Abrams (1994),
Georgia State Representative-elect, 84th District
* Jerome Loughridge (1994), former
White House Fellow and CEO/President of Appian International
*
John Cranley (1995),
Cincinnati City Councilmember and candidate for
Congress* Edward Miguel (1995), Associate Professor of Economics at
UC-Berkeley* Jake Zimmerman (1995), candidate for
Missouri State Representative, 83rd District
*
Jedediah Purdy (1997), Author and Professor,
Duke University School of Law
*
Noam Scheiber (1997), Senior Editor of
The New Republic2000s
*
The Truman Scholarship Foundation
