LSU Junior Wins Prestigious Truman Scholarship
Kendig the Fourth Tiger to Win Nationally Competitive Award

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Claire Kendig
April 2, 2008 — The Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation has announced that LSU junior Claire Kendig of Shreveport is among 65 students nationwide to receive the prestigious Truman Scholarship.

Kendig, an LSU Honors College student and biological sciences and international studies major, will graduate in May 2009. In 2007, she was awarded a nationally competitive Goldwater Scholarship for her research in organic chemistry.

“We’re extremely proud of Claire in this most fitting recognition of her extraordinary accomplishments, both as a scholar and in terms of her broader interests,” said Dean Kevin Carman of the LSU College of Basic Sciences. “We know that our students in the College of Basic Sciences are among the best and brightest in the entire country, and this award bears testimony to that fact.”

"I know Claire personally as a student in my class in African history, and I am deeply impressed by her commitment to human rights as well as her academic professionalism. She will not only represent LSU but also her generation as a caring, informed leader," said LSU Honors College Dean Nancy Clark.

Three LSU students other than Kendig have received Truman Scholarships to date: Cynthia “CC” Dubois in 2006, Jacob Landry in 2005, and Allen Richey in 2003. In five of the last six years, an LSU student has reached the finalist stage of the Truman Scholarship process.

“As a Goldwater Scholar and now a Truman Scholar, Claire Kendig is unique in LSU history,” said Drew Lamonica Arms, director of fellowship advising for the LSU Honors College. “She has demonstrated a rigorous commitment to bettering the world around her, from her service with Habitat for Humanity to her work at an orphanage in Congo. She is truly an outstanding representative of LSU and of the idea that one individual can make a difference. This national recognition is well deserved.”

After graduation, Kendig would like to pursue a degree in Tropical Public Health from Tulane University. Once her graduate studies are through, she hopes to complete her residency work in a charity hospital. After working in the United States for two years, she would like to volunteer with “Doctors without Borders,” an independent international medical humanitarian organization that delivers emergency aid to people affected by armed conflict, epidemics, natural or man-made disasters, or exclusion from health care in nearly 60 countries. Following time with “Doctors without Borders,” she hopes to pursue a position with the World Health Organization.

The scholarship provides up to $30,000 for graduate study, along with 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. The recipients were selected from 595 candidates nominated by 283 colleges and universities.

The Truman Scholarship Foundation was established by Congress in 1975 as the federal memorial to the 33rd president. The mission of the Truman Scholarship Foundation is to find and recognize college students with exceptional leadership potential who are committed to careers in government, the nonprofit or advocacy sectors, education or elsewhere in public service; and to provide them with financial support for graduate study, leadership training and fellowship with other students who are committed to making a difference through public service. For more information, visit www.truman.gov.

LSU’s Office of Fellowship Advising was created to assist students in applying for prestigious post-graduate scholarships and fellowships, such as the Rhodes, Marshall, Gates, Mitchell, Truman, and Goldwater awards. Students interested in applying for these and other scholarship opportunities should contact the office at fellowships@lsu.edu.

Support for LSU’s outstanding students is a central goal of LSU’s National Flagship Agenda and the Forever LSU campaign. One of LSU’s top campaign priorities is creating more scholarships and graduate student fellowships to recruit and retain the best and brightest students to our campus. For more information on how you can help accomplish this goal, visit www.foreverlsu.org.


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