2008 Truman Scholars Announced

March 25, 2008

2008 Truman Scholars Announced

 

Madeleine K. Albright, president of the Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation, announced that 65 students from 55 US colleges and universities have been selected as 2008 Truman Scholars. They were elected by seventeen independent selection panels on the basis of leadership potential, intellectual ability, and likelihood of 'making a difference.'

 

The 65 Scholars were selected from among 595 candidates nominated by 283 colleges and universities. Each selection panel interviewed Finalists from a 3 - 4 state region and generally elected one Scholar from each state and one at-large Scholar from the region. Each panel typically included a university president, a federal judge, a distinguished public servant, and a past Truman Scholarship winner.

 

Each Scholarship provides up to $30,000 for graduate study. Scholars also receive priority admission and supplemental financial aid at some premier graduate institutions, leadership training, career and graduate school counseling, and special internship opportunities within the federal government. Recipients must be US citizens, have outstanding leadership potential and communication skills, be in the top quarter of their class, and be committed to careers in government or the not-for-profit sector.

 

The Truman Scholarship Foundation was established by Congress in 1975 as the federal memorial to our thirty-third President. The Foundation awards scholarships for college students to attend graduate school in preparation for careers in government or elsewhere in public service. The activities of the Foundation are supported by a special trust fund in the US Treasury. There have been 2,610 Truman Scholars elected since the first awards were made in 1977.

 

The 2008 Truman Scholars will assemble May 13 for a leadership development program at William Jewell College in Liberty, Missouri, and receive their awards in a special ceremony at the Truman Library in Independence, Missouri, on May 18, 2008. For a listing of the 2008 Scholars and more information on the Foundation, see http://www.truman.gov/scholar_listing/scholar_listing.htm.

 

Selected statistics on the 2008 Scholars:· 

 

• 13 attend a small college [undergraduate enrollment less than 3000 students];
• Seven attend one of America’s 50 largest universities;
• One attends a service academy;
• 45 % attend a public institution;
• Three institutions have Truman Scholars for the first time in 2008.