Women Earn the Lion’s Share of Truman Scholarship Awards

The Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation has announced the selection of the 2014 Truman Scholars. Each Truman Scholar is awarded up to $30,000 for graduate study. They also receive priority admission to several top-tier graduate schools, have career and graduate school counseling opportunities, and are fast-tracked for internships within the federal government.

Truman Scholars must be U.S. citizens and be in the top 25 percent of their college class. They must express a commitment to government service or the nonprofit sector.

This year, 59 Truman scholars were selected from 655 candidates nominated by 294 colleges and universities. This year’s winners will assemble for a leadership development workshop at William Jewell College in Liberty, Missouri, in late May.

Of this year’s 59 Truman Scholars, 38, or 64 percent, are women. Here are brief biographies of the 38 women chosen as 2014 Truman Scholars.

(L to R) Top row: Rana Abdelhamid, Hira Baig, Dominique Beaudry, Ava Benezra, Jamie Bergstrom, Mary Caroline Brazill, Hope Brinn, and Jordan Burns. Second row: Teresa Danso-Danquah, Sarah Donohoe, Hannah Duncan, Nora Dwyer, Salima Eotka, Andrea Haidar, Haley Hardie, and Joyce Iwashita. Third row: Amber Rose Johnson, Ariel Koren, Stephanie McCracken, Mara Menahan, Sarah Mirza, Donya Nasser, Ivon Padilla-Rodriguez, and Marlee Pittman. Fourth row: Mary Molly Rocket, Deborah Roman-Cortes, Chacey Schoeppel, Karimah Shabazz, Cicely Shannon, Hanna Sherman, Shoshana Silverstein, and Erin Simpson. Bottom row: Safiya Subegdjo, Alexis Taitel, Grace Trimble, Tianna Tu, Taylor Ulmer, and Christine White.

Rana Abdelhamid is a junior at Middlebury College in Vermont. She is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in international politics and economics. She has been a student government representative at Middlebury and has worked as a research assistant in the political science department.

Hira Baig is a native of Sugar Land, Texas, and is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in political science and policy studies at Rice University in Houston. She plans to obtain a law degree and to work at the U.S. State Department.

Dominique Beaudry is studying public policy, education, and psychology at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. She wants to teach and pursue a master’s degree in public policy and educational leadership with the long-term goal of meaningful educational reform for public schools in North Carolina.

Ava Benezra from California is a junior at the University of Chicago majoring in law, letters, and society with a minor in comparative race and ethnic studies. She has interned with the United Electric, Radio, and Machine Workers union.

Jamie Bergstrom is a junior at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, where she is majoring in international comparative studies and Arabic. She plans on a graduate degree in international affairs and hopes one day to be a human rights officer for the United Nations.

Mary Caroline Brazill is a student at American University in Washington. In 2013, she was a Boren Scholar and studied Swahili in Zanzibar, Tanzania. She has interned in the United States Senate and at the State Department.

Hope Brinn is a student at Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania, where she majoring in educational studies and sociology/anthropology. She runs a mentoring program for low-income high schools students who are applying to top-tier colleges. She plans to pursue a graduate degree in educational counseling.

Jordan Burns is a junior at the University of Colorado, where she is majoring in civil engineering with a concentration in water resources. She has been working with Engineers Without Borders on a sustainable water project in Rwanda.

Teresa Danso-Danquah is a junior at Cornell University majoring in industrial and labor relations with minor concentrations in Spanish, law & society, and inequality studies. She has served as an intern on disability policy for a U.S. Senate committee.

Sarah Donohoe was raised in Alaska and is currently a student at the University of Portland in Oregon, where she is majoring in biology. She hopes to earn a Ph.D. in marine biology.

Hannah Duncan is a junior at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. She will spend her second summer in Jackson, Mississippi, studying the impact of the civil rights movement on early childhood education. A native of Arizona, Duncan plans to seek graduate degrees in education policy.

Nora Dwyer is a student at Fordham University in The Bronx, New York. She is majoring in social work and plans to pursue a master of social work degree. She plans on a career helping the homeless in urban areas.

Salima Eotka is originally from the Democratic Republic of the Congo in Africa. A junior at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut, Eotka is majoring in urban studies, political science, and French. She plans on a career in urban development, with a concentration on city residents in the developing world.

Andrea Haidar is a student at the University of Chicago. She is majoring in sociology and is also studying Arabic. She plans to pursue a master’s degree in social service administration. She leads a mentoring program for middle school girls in a predominantly Latino area of Chicago.

Haley Hardie is a junior at Davidson College in North Carolina, where she in majoring political science. She has interests in global disarmament and helping the homeless. She wants to join the Peace Crops and earn a master’s degree in international relations.

Joyce Iwashita is a native of Hawaii and a student at Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon. She is majoring in international affairs and economics. She has served as an intern at the U.S. Senate and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

Amber Rose Johnson, from Providence, Rhode Island, is a student at Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts. She is majoring in American studies and Africana studies. In 2010 she earned the title of Poetry Out Loud National Champion.

Ariel Koren is a student at the University of Pennsylvania, where she is majoring in East Asian languages and civilization with a minor in Portuguese. She is president of her class at the university. She is fluent in five languages.

Stephanie McCracken is a student at the University of Southern Mississippi where she is studying geography with a minor in community health services. She is a former Air Force medic. McCracken plans to study for a master of public health degree.

Mara Menahan is studying geography and environmental studies at the University of Montana. She hopes to become a landscape planner, working to protect open spaces. She served as a delegate to a United Nations climate change meeting in Warsaw, Poland.

Sarah Mirza is a student at the University of Georgia, where she is majoring in Spanish and human geography. She hopes to earn a master’s degree in geography and then go to law school. Mirza plays the trumpet in the university’s marching band.

Donya Nasser is studying government and politics and women’s and gender studies at St. John’s University in Queens, New York. She is the youth representative to the United Nations for the American Association of University Women. She plans a career in public service.

Ivon Padilla-Rodriguez is a junior at the University of Nevada in Reno. She is double majoring in history and the philosophy of ethics, law, and politics. She has conducted grant-supported research on the impact of immigration reform on undocumented Latino families that was presented to Congress.

Marlee Pittman is a student at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, where she is majoring in political science. She has studied abroad in Malaysia. She hopes to pursue a graduate degree in public policy and Southeast Asian studies at the University of Michigan.

Mary Molly Rocket is a junior at the University of Connecticut, where she is majoring in political science. She hopes to enroll in law school and to participate in political campaigns. She hopes to work to lower barriers for women political candidates.

Deborah Roman-Cortes is studying political science and criminal justice at the Inter-American University of Puerto Rico. She plans to pursue a graduate degree in law and public policy. Roman-Cortes has interned at the U.S. House of Representatives and the Puerto Rico House of Representatives.

Chacey Schoeppel is a fourth generation of a family that has operated a cattle ranch in northwestern Oklahoma. She is studying agricultural business at Oklahoma State University and plans to go to law school. She has interned at the Oklahoma Supreme Court and in the governor’s office.

Karimah Shabazz is a junior at Bard College in Annandale-On-Hudson, New York. She is majoring in sociology with a concentration in Africana studies. At Bard she co-founded the mentoring, tutoring and scholarship program Building Up Hudson. She plans on a career dedicated to closing the educational achievement gap.

Cicely Shannon is a student at the University of Arkansas. She is majoring in economics with a concentration in international economics and business. Shannon is involved with student government as the director for campus diversity. She plans to pursue a career focused on financing sustainable development projects.

Hanna Sherman is double majoring in government and Spanish at Bowdoin College in Maine. She spent seven months volunteering in a school in Guatemala. She hopes to earn a master’s degree in international studies and an MBA.

Shoshana Silverstein was home schooled in Vermont and then enrolled at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire, where she is majoring in government. She is the senior editor of the Dartmouth Law Journal. After graduating from college, Silverstein wants to go to law school.

Erin Simpson is a native of Wisconsin and currently a student at the University of Chicago, where she is majoring in public policy. She has worked as a White House intern and is interested in working in urban revitalization. She is also an improv comic.

Safiya Subegdjo is a junior at Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts. She is majoring in international relations and leadership studies.  She has worked with Syrian refugees in Jordan and for the Foundation for Mother and Child Health in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Alexis Taitel is currently pursuing bachelor’s and master’s degrees in international studies at the University of Oklahoma. She has interned at the U.S. State Department and attended several international conferences on nuclear nonproliferation.

Grace Trimble is a political science major at the University of Kentucky. She is pursing a minor degree in history. She is on the university’s varsity tennis team. Trimble plans to study for a master’s degree in nonprofit management.

Tianna Tu is a student at the University of Utah. She is majoring in political science and policy studies. She serves as the editor of the Hinckley Journal of Politics. She plans to earn a master’s degree and a law degree.

Taylor Ulmer is a junior at Spelman College in Atlanta, where she is majoring in anthropology and sociology as well as international studies. She plans to work on educational reform program both internationally and in her home town of Chicago.

Christine White is a junior at Indiana University in Bloomington, where she is majoring in political science, economics, and Spanish. She is also studying Arabic. She has interned with the U.S. State Department in Guatemala.