KU News Release

KU nominates two juniors for national Truman scholarship competition

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

KU’s nominees are Amanda Marie Shriwise, Overland Park, who worked with campus groups to raise more than $10,000 for a school in Tanzania; and Aaron Michael Reinke, Stilwell, who led a group of teens in constructing a house without power tools in Mexico in less than a week. Each has a strong interest in international health needs and plans to pursue graduate degrees in public health and earn medical degrees following graduation from KU in 2009.

A selection committee is reviewing applications from about 600 nominees for the Truman Foundation in Washington, D.C. Approximately 200 students will be named finalists on Feb. 19.

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 25.

Truman scholars must work in public service for three years of the seven 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 below.

JOHNSON COUNTY
From Overland Park 66212
Amanda Marie Shriwise has a long-range goal of service in international health. She is majoring in dance with a pre-medicine concentration in preparation for earning first a master’s degree in public health followed by a medical degree. Shriwise traveled to Tanzania to volunteer with a district hospital near Arusha in summer 2006. The following summer she returned to Tanzania not only with additional volunteers but also with more than $10,000 in funds raised at KU to support the St. Elisia School, founded by a teacher in Arusha. Shriwise raised the funds through I CAN (International Children’s Assistance Network), a campus organization that she co-founded. Her policy proposal in her application addresses the directors of the U.S. Agency for International Development missions in Tanzania about the need to increase efforts to treat and prevent pneumonia in Tanzanian children age 5 and under. Shriwise outlines potential sources of funding and proposes utilizing currently successful vaccination programs in Tanzania to administer this program. She further notes Tanzania’s vital role in promoting peace and stability in this region of Africa. This fall, under Shriwise’s leadership, I CAN also collected more than 3,000 books to be donated to the Kansas City, Kan., Public Schools. Shriwise is a research assistant in the lab of Julian Limburg and Minae Mure, both assistant professors of chemistry. She has also worked as a teaching assistant for general and organic chemistry and as a ballet teacher. She is president of I CAN and the University Dance Company and chair of the student advisory council for the School of Fine Arts. She is a member of Phi Kappa Phi honor society and was selected as a University Scholar, KU’s mentoring program offered to 20 top sophomores annually. She is the daughter of Rodney and Susan Shriwise and a Shawnee Mission South High School graduate.

From Stilwell 66085
Aaron Michael Reinke hopes to combine his engineering and medical interests to improve public health, particularly in developing countries. He is majoring in civil and environmental engineering. He plans to earn a master’s degree in public health as well as a medical degree in preparation for serving as a physician in developing countries. In the policy proposal for his application, Reinke asks the World Bank President to invest $85,000 in health impact studies of a new water filter that has the potential to improve access to safe drinking water in developing countries. Reinke advises that the Plastic BioSand Water Filter weighs seven pounds in contrast to the traditional 300-pound concrete design, is portable, affordable and low-maintenance. He cautions that community education would be needed to assure sustaining the project. He has volunteered with church affiliated missions Mwanza, Tanzania, in Juarez, Mexico, and in New Orleans. In Juarez, as the youth intern for the Stilwell United Methodist Church, Reinke led a group of teens in the construction of a new home. Without power tools and with only wheelbarrows to haul concrete for the foundation, the group completed the house in less than a week. Reinke was vice president and co-founded Engineers Without Borders at KU. He is a member of two national honor societies: Phi Kappa Phi and Tau Beta Pi. He is an emergency room volunteer at Lawrence Memorial Hospital and volunteers with Jubilee Café, which provides a restaurant-style breakfast for community members in need. He has worked since 2002 as a pharmacy technician and has also worked for deck building and landscaping firms. He is the son of Steve and Barb Reinke and a Blue Valley High School graduate.

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