UA Student Named Truman Scholar

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation has named University of Alabama student Jason Arterburn, a junior from Madison, as a Truman Scholar in 2014. He is one of 59 U.S. students to receive a Truman Scholarship this year.

Arterburn is studying economics and interdisciplinary studies. He is completing a year in China on a Critical Language Scholarship from the U.S. Department of State and a David L. Boren Scholarship from the National Security Education Program. Currently he is studying Chinese in Harbin, a city in Manchuria situated between North Korea and Russia.

At UA, Arterburn has worked on several community programs in Perry County as a University Fellow and an Honors College 57 Miles intern. His activities include teaching  ACT Now, an ACT prep class serving more than 60 students at Francis Marion High School; and the Exergaming Initiative, an education module using Wii dance video games to incorporate physical activity into the classroom at Albert Turner Sr. Elementary School.

The UA College of Arts and Sciences’ student also has worked at George Washington Carver High School in Birmingham with Birmingham to Beijing, a program that funds and organizes afterschool, university-level Chinese language classes and a cultural exchange to Beijing for motivated students at a low-income, inner-city school.

Seventeen independent panels selected the 59 Truman Scholars from among 655 candidates nominated by 293 colleges and universities. They were chosen on the basis of the finalists’ academic success and leadership accomplishments, as well as their likelihood of becoming public service leaders.

Selection panels met across the United States and include distinguished public service leaders, elected officials, university presidents, federal judges and past Truman Scholarship winners. A listing of the new Scholars can be found at the Truman Foundation’s website: http://www.truman.gov.

Each Truman Scholar receives up to $30,000 for graduate study. Scholars also receive priority admission and supplemental financial aid at some premier graduate institutions, leadership training, career and graduate 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 nonprofit sector.