Two University of Pittsburgh Students Named 2004 Truman Scholars

PITTSBURGH—University of Pittsburgh Honors College juniors Jocelyn Horner, a double major in urban studies and sociology, and Clare S. Sierawski, a triple major in environmental studies, political science, and East Asian Languages and Literatures, have been named 2004 Truman Scholarship winners for their outstanding academic and leadership abilities.

This year, only three public universities won more than one Truman Scholarship, with Pitt, the University of Georgia, and the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill each winning two. Among all American institutions of higher education, public and private, only seven schools won two Truman Scholarships, and Harvard University was the only school to win three Truman Scholarships. In all, 77 scholars were selected from 67 U.S. institutions of higher learning.

Horner and Sierawski, two of 221 finalists from 146 institutions across the country, are Pitt's seventh and eighth Truman winners. Three Pitt students were among the nine from Pennsylvania selected as finalists this year.

"In 1996, the University of Pittsburgh's Board of Trustees established five key priorities—the first, and most fundamental, of which was to 'aggressively pursue excellence in undergraduate education,' " says Chancellor Mark A. Nordenberg. "The exceptional accomplishments of our newest Truman Scholars—Jocelyn Horner and Clare S. Sierawski—are the latest examples of the rich undergraduate talent existing, and flourishing, at the University of Pittsburgh. We are enormously proud of them."

The announcement of this year's awards was made by Madeleine K. Albright, former U.S. Secretary of State and president of The Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation, the official federal memorial to the 33rd president.

The Truman Scholarship is a highly competitive, merit-based federal grant of $26,000 awarded to college juniors who wish to attend graduate or professional school in preparation for careers in government, the nonprofit sector, or elsewhere in public service. Winners are eligible to receive $2,000 for the senior year of undergraduate education and $24,000 for graduate studies in the United States or abroad in a wide variety of fields.

Recipients also receive an all-expenses-paid trip to Truman Scholars Leadership Week May 16-23 at William Jewell College in Liberty, Mo., and the awards ceremony May 23 in Independence, Mo.

Horner, who holds a certificate in Women's Studies, has worked closely with Professor Carolyn Carson, coordinator of Pitt's Urban Studies Program. Horner also is working with Pitt History Professor Liann Tsoukas on an Honors College Bachelor of Philosophy thesis that deals with trends in Black women's social action in poor, inner-city communities. Horner's long-term plans are to obtain the Master of Arts degree in public policy from Johns Hopkins Institute for Policy Studies, followed by the Ph.D. degree in public policy from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

Sierawski, recipient of a certificate in Global Studies, is founder of Panther Treks, an orientation program for freshmen that emphasizes the rigors of physical adversity through backpacking and rock climbing, with an eye toward producing future leaders for Pitt's Outdoors Club. Sierawski would like to pursue a career dealing with problems of international environmental degradation through affiliation with such organizations as USAID, the United Nations, the World Wildlife Fund, or Oxfam International. Her academic plans are to earn the Master of Arts degree in public administration from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University, followed by a J.D. degree in international law.

Noting that this was an academic triumph by outstanding Pitt undergraduates, Honors College Dean and Truman Faculty Representative Alec Stewart said, "The Truman is a prestigious national scholarship for students who have already integrated imaginative thought with decisive action in the public arena. Resumé builders need not apply. In the rigorous two-step selection process that follows mentoring by outstanding faculty and staff, the Truman Foundation seeks scholars with a real shot at leaving the world a better place than they found it. With outstanding Pitt candidates like Clare and Jocelyn, who can be surprised that the foundation picked both?"

###

4/1/04/tmw