KU News Release

KU nominates two juniors for national Truman scholarship competition

LAWRENCE — Two University of Kansas juniors have been nominated to compete for a Harry S. Truman Scholarship. The national awards provide up to $30,000 for college students preparing for leadership in public service.

KU’s nominees are Jay Marshall Kimmel of Wichita and Cristina Avelina Fernandez of Washington, D.C., and Asuncion, Paraguay. Both plan to pursue graduate degrees in international studies following their graduation from KU in 2008. Kimmel and Fernandez are majoring in economics and political science and are multilingual. Kimmel, who also has a co-major in international studies, specializes in Central Asian languages and speaks five languages including English. Fernandez speaks three European languages in addition to English.

A selection committee is reviewing applications from about 600 nominees for the Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation in Washington, D.C. Approximately 200 students will be named finalists on Feb. 20.

Regional panels interview the finalists and make recommendations for the 75 scholarships available nationally. Truman scholars are chosen on the basis of leadership potential, intellectual ability and the likelihood of “making a difference.” Candidates must be planning careers in public service and must propose a solution to a public policy issue as part of their application. Winners will be announced March 27.

Truman scholars must work in public service for three years following completion of a foundation-funded graduate degree program as a condition of receiving Truman funds.

Since 1981, 16 KU students have become Truman scholars. The Truman Scholarship Foundation was established by Congress in 1975 and made its first scholarship awards in 1977.

More information about KU’s nominees is listed below.

SEDGWICK COUNTY
From Wichita
To prepare for a U.S. Foreign Service career as an analyst focused on trade policy with developing nations, Jay Marshall Kimmel has concentrated on international studies and languages. At KU, he has studied Uzbek, Uyghur, Russian and Turkish. This summer, Kimmel will complete an internship with the State Department’s Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs in Washington, D.C. In April, Kimmel will present a paper titled “Educational Choices and Identity in Tajikistan” at the 12th annual Association for the Study of Nationalities conference at the Harriman Institute of Columbia University. Since fall 2006, he has served as a translator for recently arrived Uzbekistan refugees in the Kansas City area. Kimmel spent the 2005-06 academic year in Tajikistan as a National Security Education Program/David L. Boren Undergraduate Scholar. He also received a Social Sciences Research Council Fellowship to study intermediate Uyghur in a summer workshop at Indiana University. He received an Undergraduate Research Award for his study of the intra-state conflict in the Kyrgyz Republic. He is a National Merit Scholar and a Harley S. Nelson Scholar in economics and political science, a scholarship given only to the top two or three students in those departments. He is a member of Pi Sigma Alpha, an honor society for political science majors. Kimmel was the founding president of the KU Model United Nations group. He was one of 20 sophomores selected to participate in the University Scholars Program and is in the University Honors Program. At KU, he works as a teaching assistant in economics. He is the son of John and Karen Kimmel of Wichita and a graduate of Wichita Southeast High School.

WASHINGTON, D.C., and ASUNCION, PARAGUAY
English is a second language for Cristina Avelina Fernandez, whose goals include working as a Latin American specialist on policies related to empowering women. Her first language is Spanish, but she is also fluent in German and French. Fernandez is a U.S. citizen who was born and raised in Paraguay and is attending KU through an exchange program with Catholic University in Asuncion. She works as a resident assistant for a KU residence hall and has tutored students studying Spanish. During summer 2006, she completed a one-month internship with the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Diplomatic Security and a two-month internship with the Organization of American States, both in Washington, D.C. Her language skills and her performance as an intern earned her a job offer from the Organization of American States, but Fernandez declined to complete her degree at KU. She is a Harley S. Nelson Scholar, a recognition given to only two or three top students in the political science department. She was also a 2006 finalist in the competition for a Thomas R. Pickering ambassador fellowship. Fernandez serves on the advisory board and is an ambassador for KU’s Global Awareness Program. Fernandez was one of 20 sophomores selected as a University Scholar and one of 13 selected for the Honors Research Development Program in the University Honors Program. She serves on a logistics committee for a service project with high school girls sponsored by KU’s Emily Taylor Women’s Resource Center. Since 1999, Fernandez has regularly volunteered in a public nursing home on visits to her home in Asuncion. She also volunteered with Tierra Nueva, a Paraguayan rural development advocacy group. She is the daughter of Maria Guzman and Wilfrido Fernandez of Asuncion and a graduate of Goethe Schule High School in Paraguay.

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