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Truman Scholarship Foundation to honor IU during Founders Day observance Sunday
March 1, 2000
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Indiana University has been selected as one of five colleges and universities nationwide to receive the Truman Foundation Honor Institution Award. The honor will be presented at IU's annual Founders Day ceremony on Sunday (March 5) in Bloomington.
Louis H. Blair, executive secretary of the Harry Truman Scholarship Foundation, will present a plaque and recognize the efforts of Russell L. Hanson, acting dean of the IU College of Arts and Sciences and professor of political science. Hanson is currently IU's faculty representative to the foundation, which is based in Washington, D.C.
The Founders Day program will begin at 2 p.m. in Assembly Hall on the Bloomington campus. Thirteen IU professors and two associate instructors will be recognized for their outstanding teaching, research or service to the university. Certificates for students who have earned academic honors will be distributed immediately afterward at a reception in the John Mellencamp Pavilion.
"Receiving a Truman Foundation Honor Institution Award, an award that focuses on both civic involvement and academic excellence, is a great tribute to IU," said IU President Myles Brand. "It's particularly fitting that our university will receive the honor on Founders Day, the time we recognize the pioneers who made an enduring contribution by establishing IU and the outstanding educators and students who carry on their legacy today."
IU was chosen after a review of nearly 500 U.S. institutions that have had Truman Scholars since the foundation began in 1975. The university has had 11 scholars during that period of time, including 1999 Truman Scholar Patrick W. Price, an IU Bloomington student from Indianapolis.
Criteria used by the selection committee in choosing IU included active encouragement of outstanding young people to pursue careers in public service, sustained success in helping its students to win Truman scholarships, and having a 1999 Truman Scholar.
Other institutions receiving the award are Cornell University, Furman University, the University of Pennsylvania and the University of South Dakota.
The Truman Scholarship is a highly competitive, merit-based award offered to college juniors who want to attend graduate school in preparation for a career in public service. The scholarship provides a $30,000 grant, of which $27,000 is for graduate study in the United States or abroad in a wide variety of fields. It also includes participation in a program called Truman Scholars Leadership Week, which involves Truman scholarship winners from around the country.
"Truman Scholars are persons who have been recognized by the Truman Scholarship Foundation as future 'change agents.' They have the desire, intellect and leadership potential that in time should enable them to improve the ways that public entities -- be they government agencies, schools or nonprofit organizations -- serve the public good. Their personal 'bottom line' is making a difference, not making a dollar," according to a statement by the foundation.
The Truman Foundation was established by Congress in 1975 as the official federal memorial to honor the nation's 33rd president. The foundation recognizes Truman's contributions to the nation, his commitment to public service and his interest in education. The foundation is an agency of the executive branch, governed by a board of trustees appointed by the president and Congress and endowed by a $55 million trust fund.
Interviews of 2000 Truman Scholar finalists are now under way, and selections will be announced in early spring.
(George Vlahakis, 812-855-0846, gvlahaki@indiana.edu)