News from
PRINCETON UNIVERSITY
Office of Communications
Stanhope Hall
Princeton, New Jersey 08544-5264
Telephone 609-258-3601; Fax 609-258-1301Contact: Patricia Coen (609) 258-5764
Date: March 30, 1999
Princeton Junior Named Truman Scholar
PRINCETON, N.J. -- Jennifer L. Jennings, a junior majoring in public affairs at Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, has been named a 1999 Truman Scholar by the Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation. The award recognizes leadership potential, intellectual ability, and likelihood of "making a difference."
Jennings is a graduate of Cherry Hill High School West and plans a career in urban education. She is the president of the Class of 2000, a member of the board of the Student Volunteers Council and of the Princeton University Community Research Advisory Board, a member of the Alumni Council Committee on Community Service, and a former member of the Princeton University Honor Committee. Her volunteer efforts include working with the Trenton Big Brothers/Big Sisters Program, the Community of Hope in Washington DC, and the Mercer County Head Start Program. She is the recipient of the University’s Daily Princetonian award, given to "a member of the Princeton Community for his or her contribution to the University, both physical and spiritual, through his or her achievements in the field of non-athletic extracurricular activity."
Each Truman Scholarship provides $30,000 &endash; $3,000 for the senior year and $27,000 for two or three years of 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 1,928 Truman Scholars elected since the first awards were made in 1977.
This year’s 65 Truman Scholars were selected from among 657 candidates nominated by 332 colleges and universities. Each of 19 independent selection panels interviewed finalists from a three- or four- state region and generally elected one scholar from each state and one or two at-large scholars from the region. Each panel typically included a university president, a US Appeals Court Judge or a State Supreme Court Justice, a distinguished public servant, and a past Truman Scholarship winner.