KU News Release

KU nominates five students for national Truman scholarship competition

LAWRENCE — Five University of Kansas students 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

— Cooper Thomas Allton, a senior from Topeka preparing for an international affairs career in conflict prevention and recovery
— Julia Michaela Johanna Groeblacher, a senior from McPherson interested in a career in international affairs serving in the Middle East and in North Africa
— Margaret A. Tran, a junior from Derby preparing for a public service career promoting environmental sustainability
— Robert “Bob” R. Wiggin, a senior from Lawrence planning a career in medicine or medical research, specializing in regenerative medicine
— Alison Rose Spencer Zeigler, a senior from Lawrence and Manila, Philippines, planning a career to serve developing countries as a policy analyst

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. 17.

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 26.

Truman scholars must work in public service for three 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.

President Barack Obama recently appointed two former Truman scholars to serve in his cabinet: Janet Napolitano (1977, Santa Clara University) is secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, and Susan Rice (1984, Stanford University) is U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

More information about KU’s nominees is below.

DOUGLAS COUNTY
From Lawrence 66044
Robert “Bob” R. Wiggin, a senior in biochemistry, plans a career in medicine or medical research, specializing in regenerative medicine. KU faculty nominating Wiggin note that he truly exemplifies the American dream. Wiggin spoke no English in 2003 when he immigrated to the United States. Until a 2007 back injury disqualified him from military service, Wiggin was a cadet in the Air Force ROTC at KU. He continues to serve in the Civilian Air Patrol. He has since readjusted his career goals to biomedical research on regenerative technologies that could lead to improvement for both military personnel and civilians. Wiggin addressed his policy proposal to Dr. S. Ward Casscells, assistant secretary for health affairs in the Department of Defense. He focused on the need for expansion of medical research on spinal disc regeneration. Specifically, he proposes developing alternatives to conventional invasive procedures for disc injuries and making disc regeneration clinically viable. At KU, Wiggin has a 2009 Kansas IDeA (Institutional Development Awards) Network of Biomedical Research Excellence grant funded by the National Institute of Health. Wiggin is a graduate of Shawnee Mission West High School. Before entering KU, he attended Kansas City Kansas Community College and Johnson County Community College, where he was president of the student body. Wiggin was a 2007 USA Today All-USA Community College Academic First Team student, a 2007 Coca-Cola New Century Scholar and received a 2006 Congressional Award Gold Medal for young Americans in recognition of voluntary service, fitness, personal development and expedition or exploration. Since settling in the United States, Wiggin has trained as an emergency medical technician and a firefighter and volunteered for disaster relief, including in the Gulf states following Hurricane Katrina. He is an assistant scoutmaster and counselor with Boy Scouts of America and volunteers with the Dream Factory of Greater Kansas City and American Red Cross Greater Kansas City Chapter and Douglas County Chapter.

From Lawrence 66044 and Manila, Philippines
Alison Rose Spencer Zeigler. SEE PHILIPPINES

McPHERSON COUNTY
From McPherson 67460
Julia Michaela Johanna Groeblacher, a senior majoring in economics and political science, is interested in a career in international affairs, serving in the Middle East and in North Africa. Her long-range goals include working as an agent for change in economic development and in the promotion of democracy. She is a first generation American who immigrated to the United States as a child with her parents from Austria to settle in central Kansas. She is the daughter of Johann and Michaela Groeblacher and is a graduate of McPherson High School. She entered KU as a National Merit Scholar. In 2008, Groeblacher was one of 20 students selected nationally to receive a Pickering Undergraduate Foreign Affairs scholarship offered through the Woodrow Wilson Foundation. This summer, she will be a Pickering intern in the U.S. State Department. This semester, Groeblacher is studying Arabic at the American University in Cairo, Egypt. Previously, she studied Arabic in Morocco and at KU. Her policy proposal to Thomas Riley, U.S. ambassador to Morocco, suggests that the U.S. State Department increase support of sustainable tourist activities such as eco-tourism, cultural tourism and partnership programs with international universities. As president of the Young Democrats last fall, Groeblacher led a voter registration team that increased campus registrations by 400 percent and community registrations by 200 percent. She also serves on the student advisory board for the Dole Institute of Politics and has served as an program coordinator for a human rights campus group, Fighting Ignorance of Global Humanitarian Threats, FIGHT. In McPherson, she has volunteered with the Big Brothers/Big Sisters program. She also serves as an assistant debate coach for St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Overland Park. She is a member of two national honor societies: Pi Sigma Alpha for political scientists and Phi Kappa Phi for all academic disciplines.

SEDGWICK COUNTY
From Derby 67037
Margaret A. Tran is a junior majoring in environmental studies and economics to prepare for a public service career promoting environmental sustainability. In Kansas, Tran has worked to promote awareness of the impact of coal-powered energy on Kansans and to promote the economic and environmental advantages of clean energy options. As a regional director of the national nonprofit organization 2020 Vision, Tran led campaigns opposing proposals for coal-fired plants in Holcomb, near Garden City. Her policy proposal urges Roderick Bremby, Kansas secretary of health and environment, to conduct a public outreach campaign demonstrating the health risks of burning coal. Tran also suggests that western Kansas universities be funded to become leading research institutions in energy efficiency. She is the daughter of Chinh and Lan Tran and a graduate of Derby High School. At KU, Tran is a National Merit Scholar. She is program coordinator for Environmental Action to Revitalize the Heartland, EARTH, a program in KU’s Center for Community Outreach. With EARTH, she has organized students to volunteer with the local farmer’s market and annual farm tour and to collect and recycle cans at athletic events. Money from the recycled cans was donated to charities. Tran has worked with EARTH to revitalize a Campus Garden project that provides students with organic farming experience and beautifies the campus. Tran was a member of DanceSport, a competitive ballroom dance group and won first place in rumba in the 2007 Iowa State University Cyclone Ballroom Dance Classic.

SHAWNEE COUNTY
From Topeka 66606
Cooper Thomas Allton, a senior in economics and political science, is preparing for an international affairs career in conflict prevention and recovery. His policy proposal urges U.S. Sen. Christopher J. Dodd, chair of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, to support the Extractive Industries Disclosure Act. The legislation addresses the need for transparency in management of oil, gas and other mined resources. He is the son of Brenda Kettle and Thad Allton and is a Topeka High School graduate. At KU, Allton has a Summerfield Scholarship, one of KU’s most prestigious scholarships for Kansas high school graduates with outstanding academic records who have demonstrated community service and leadership. His language studies include Arabic and Chinese. In summer 2007, Allton received a U.S. State Department Critical Language Scholarship to study Arabic in Tangier, Morocco. This fall, he plans to study Chinese in China. Many of his volunteer experiences have focused on helping others learn a language or bridge a cultural gap. He has served as an instructor and interpreter for weekly English classes for Spanish-speaking adults in Topeka; as a conversation partner for international students practicing English through the International Friends at KU program; and as a 2009 meet and greet adviser for United Arab Emirate scholarship students arriving in Kansas. In 2006, Allton was an interpreter for his father, a photographer for the Topeka Capital-Journal, while he was working in Mexico on a series of immigration stories. The series won a state journalism award. Following Hurricane Katrina, Allton volunteered as a relief worker with the Campus Crusade for Christ, making four trips to Louisiana and Mississippi, and has volunteered with Habitat for Humanity.

PHILIPPINES
From Manila and Lawrence, Kan.
Alison Rose Spencer Zeigler, a senior in economics and international studies, is planning a career to serve developing countries as a policy analyst. Zeigler is particularly interested in the impact rural conditions and policies have on poverty in a nation’s urban centers. “Rural poverty and poor urban conditions are two sides of the same coin. I believe one cannot be fully understood without considering the other.” Her policy proposal on rural development strategies recommends the use of agricultural insurance and is addressed to Iris Young in the U.S. Agency for International Development’s Bureau for Economic Growth, Agriculture and Trade. Zeigler describes herself as a “third culture kid” who learned to feel at home the countries where her father worked in agriculture development for a nongovernment organization. She is the daughter of Robert and Crissan Zeigler and is a graduate of Brent International School in Manila. She plans to graduate from KU in fall 2009. At KU, Zeigler has earned distinction as a co-director who has revitalized and increased student and community participation in the Center for Community Outreach, a student operated and funded agency providing student volunteers for community groups. She has served as a co-coordinator for KU’s Alternative Winter Breaks program and for the Into the Streets Week program, both through the Center for Community Outreach. Zeigler is a member of the student advisory board for the Dole Institute of Politics; the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Dean’s Student Advisory Council; and the Provost’s Tuition Advisory Committee. She represents the Center for Community Outreach on the Presidents’ Round Table.

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