AUSTIN, Texas—The Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation has announced the 76 winners of this year’s scholarships, including junior Heidi Boutros and senior Corinna Kester at The University of Texas at Austin.
Boutros, a student in Plan II and Government, is a Dallas native. She wrote the first academic code of conduct at the university, organized UT Amnesty International’s first lecture series and participated in volunteer projects to stop violence against women. She also has co-authored a country discrimination report on South Africa for the United Nations World Conference against Racism, has interned with prisoners’ rights organizations in Russia and has traveled to India to rescue people sold into slavery.
Kester, a student in Chemical Engineering and Plan II, is from Flower Mound, Texas. She has interned for Ozone Action, a nonprofit group focused on ending global warming and started an on-campus organization called Environmental Outreach focused on educating students about the Kyoto Protocol negotiations in The Hague, Netherlands. She attended these negotiations with 200 other American students. Kester also has worked on a campus environmental center that will help students learn about environmental issues, serve as a resource for student environmental organizations, and reduce the university’s environmental impact.
The Scholars were selected from among 635 candidates nominated by 305 colleges and universities. Each scholarship provides $30,000—$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 U.S. 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 the nation’s 33d 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 U.S. Treasury. There have been 2,163 Truman Scholars elected since the first awards were made in 1977.
For more information contact: Robin Gerrow, College of Liberal Arts, 512-232-2145, or Becky Rische, College of Engineering, 512-471-7272.
