The 2021 Class Of Truman Fellows Is Announced

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The 2021 class of Truman Scholars has been announced. This year’s scholars include 62 college students representing 51 U.S. colleges and universities. The Truman Scholarship is considered the premier graduate scholarship for students who intend to enter governmental work or public service in the United States.

The 62 winners were selected from 845 candidates nominated by 328 colleges and universities, a record number of applicants. According to the press release from the Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation, “they were recommended by seventeen independent selection panels based on the finalists’ academic success and leadership accomplishments, as well as their likelihood of becoming public service leaders. Regional selection panels met virtually and included distinguished civic leaders, elected officials, university presidents, federal judges, and past Truman Scholarship winners.”

Four primary criteria are used in selecting the scholars:

1. Extensive record of campus and community service;
2. Commitment to a career in government or the nonprofit and advocacy sectors;
3. Communication skills and a high probability of becoming a “change agent”; and 
4. Strong academic record with likely acceptance to the graduate school of the candidate’s choice.

As one condition of receiving Truman funds, scholars are required to work in public service for three of the seven years following completion of a Foundation-funded graduate degree program. They are also required to file several periodic reports with the Foundation in order to access and maintain their scholarship funding. 

The stipend is $15,000 per year for two years of study, although several institutions have agreed to match the award with supplemental funding of their own. The scholarship covers actual expenses for tuition and required fees, average expenses for room and board, and up to $1000 per year for books. 

“The 2021 Truman Scholars reflect our country’s sustained commitment to the future of public service,” said Dr. Terry Babcock-Lumish, the Foundation’s Executive Secretary and a 1996 Truman Scholar from Pennsylvania. “This past year presented seemingly insurmountable challenges. Now is precisely the time to reinvest in diverse public servants who reflect America’s resourcefulness, resilience, and leadership.”

You can read the full list and biographies of the new Truman Scholars here. This cohort is remarkably diverse. Of the 62 scholars, 41 are women, and one is a nonbinary student. Many are students of color, first-generation college students and recent immigrants to the United States.

The scholars’ fields of study span a broad array of interests, illustrated by these examples:

• Sagal Ahmed studies statistics and public policy at Carleton College and researches illegal, unregulated, and unreported fishing.
• Tarik Brown is a computer science major and public policy minor at Notre Dame, who’s interested in addressing algorithmic bias in emerging technologies.
• Allesandra Brussel Faria majors in ethnicity, race, and migration, while also completing pre-med studies at Yale. She has interned at the Johns Hopkins Center for American Indian Health with the White Mountain Apache community and at the Yale School of Medicine’s Equity Research and Innovation Center.
• Cosimo Fabrizio studies economics and government at Cornell. He has worked under Bryan Stevenson at the Equal Justice Initiative and also with the New Jersey Public Defender’s Appellate Division.
• Catherine Hadley studies political science at the University of Michigan. After both she and her son almost died in childbirth, she founded BirthSafe.org, a maternal health-specific review website. She has lobbied for maternal health bills in Michigan and Washington and serves on the steering committee of the Hungry for Justice SNAP expansion coalition.
• Andre Jimenez is studying law and policy and minoring in global engagement at the University of Washington. He serves as the Student Leadership Council co-chair for the University of Washington’s Global Honors Program and is also a Commissioner on the City of Tacoma’s Human Rights Commission.
• Chase Lee studies cyber operations at the United States Naval Academy, where he is focusing on the lack of protective cybersecurity measures for our nation’s data and people.
• Greg Marchal is pursuing a major in economics and minors in math, data analytics, and political economy at Michigan State University. He has studied vaccine hesitancy in the United States and has interned at the President’s Council of Economic Advisers, at the American Enterprise Institute, and with the Irish Federal Government Department of Housing.
• Makaila Ranges studies biology and government at Franklin & Marshall College. Interested in immigration, health policy, and human rights, she helps international doctors in the community with their English language skills so they can secure certification in the United States.

Here are some other noteworthy feature of the 2021 class:

• Ten institutions had multiple Truman Scholars – Boston College, Grinnell College, Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Princeton University, Stanford University, University of Connecticut, University of Notre Dame, University of Washington, and Yale University.
• One institution has a Truman Scholar for the first time – the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater.
• Twenty-six scholars attended public universities; 24 attended private research universities, ten went to private liberal arts colleges; and two scholars were students at service academies.

The Truman Foundation was created in 1975 soon after President Harry S. Truman passed away. It was established by Congress as a living memorial to Truman, and for more than 40 years Truman Scholarships have reflected the legacy of the 33rd President by supporting and inspiring Americans from diverse backgrounds to public service.

According to the Foundation, the 62 awardees join a community of 3,384 Truman Scholars chosen since the first awards in 1977. Among that group are Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch; U.S. Senator Chris Coons and Representatives Ted Deutch, Dusty Johnson, Andy Kim, Tom Malinowski, and Greg Stanton: White House Domestic Policy Advisor Susan Rice; National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan; former Arizona Governor and Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano; former Secretary of Education John King; and Fair Fight founder Stacey Abrams.