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Two IU students win Truman Scholarships
May 11, 2000
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Two more Indiana University Bloomington students have been named Truman Scholars by the Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation.
Raju Raval of Fort Wayne and Elisabeth J. "Lisa" Yu of Indian Head Park, Ill., were selected, continuing a proud tradition for IU. Since the Truman Foundation began in 1975, the university has had 13 Truman Scholars, including 10 scholars since 1990.
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.
Earlier this year, IU was honored by the Truman Foundation with its Honor Institution Award. The honor was given in recognition of the university's encouragement of outstanding young people to pursue careers in public service and for its sustained success in helping students to win Truman scholarships.
Each student previously had been awarded a Herman B Wells Scholarship to attend IU -- a four-year, merit-based scholarship worth about $56,000 -- and both are members of IU's Honors College. They each have spent two semesters studying abroad, in London and in Spain.
Raval is a senior pursuing a bachelor of arts degree in biochemistry, biology, Spanish and religious studies. A valedictorian graduate of Homestead High School, Raval previously has been awarded several other scholarships, including an IU Science, Technology and Research Scholarship (IUSTARS), the Fernandus and Elizabeth Payne Scholarship for the top student in IU's biology program, and the IU Chemistry Honors Award.
He intends to pursue a joint M.D./Ph.D. degree program and a career in clinical cancer research and public health policy. While at IU, Raval has conducted research into early detection of melanoma and breast cancer metastases, under the guidance of IU biologists. During internships at the IU School of Medicine and at St. Joseph and Parkview Medical Centers, he has researched cardiovascular disease prevention and programs designed to provide improved prenatal, educational and social care to pregnant teenagers.
While at IU, Raval also has been involved in the IU Circle K, a volunteer organization affiliated with Kiwanis International; IUSTARS Faculty-Student Advisory Committee; and the Indian Students Association. He has served as a dorm governor in the Residence Halls Association. He is a member of Golden Key and Phi Eta Sigma honor societies, and Alpha Epsilon Delta pre-medical fraternity. He has been involved in a number of philanthropic activities on and off campus.
Yu, a valedictorian graduate of Saint Ignatius College Preparatory School, is a senior pursuing a bachelor of arts degree in political science and Spanish. She is a member of the national steering committee of the East Timor Action Network. During the spring semester, she studied in Spain and served as a political intern with the U.S. Embassy in Madrid. She also had an internship with the House of Commons in the British Parliament while studying in the fall of 1999.
Last summer, she was an intern in the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor in the U.S. Department of State. In the summer of 1998, she interned with the U.S. House of Representatives International Relations Committee, working with its Subcommittee on International Operations and Human Rights. She also has worked as an intern in the Center for the Study of Global Change at IU's Bloomington campus and the Midwest regional office of Amnesty International.
This summer, she will begin researching her thesis on the role of the international community in negotiating a peace agreement in Northern Ireland.
While at IU, she also has been opinion editor, columnist and opinion board member at the Indiana Daily Student newspaper, chapter founder and president of the IU East Timor Action Network, meal share coordinator of Students Organized Against Poverty, and a member of the Residence Halls Judicial Board, Habitat for Humanity, and Board of Vice Governors in the Residence Halls Student Government. She also has been involved in several other philanthropic activities on campus.
Other honors Yu has received include first place in the Indiana Council on World Affairs Essay Competition, the IU History Department's John Foster Essay Prize, the International Dorothy Vandercook Peace Award from Grandmothers for Peace, and the Best Opinion Page Award from Hoosier State Press Association. She is a member of Golden Key, Alpha Lama Delta, Phi Eta Sigma and Pi Sigma Alpha Political Science honor societies.
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.
"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.
More information about the Truman Scholarship is available at the Truman Foundation's Web site at http://www.truman.gov
(George Vlahakis, 812-855-0846, gvlahaki@indiana.edu)