Auburn University junior Hallie Nelson named finalist for the Harry S. Truman Scholarship

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Auburn University student Hallie Nelson has been named a finalist for the prestigious Harry S. Truman Scholarship. She will interview in Atlanta next month for one of the 60 available Truman Scholarships nationwide.

Nelson, a native of Birmingham, is an Honors College junior majoring in biosystems engineering with minors in Spanish, sustainability studies and community and civic engagement within the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering, University College and the College of Liberal Arts, respectively.

Among her many activities, she serves as co-chair of Auburn's Women's Leadership Conference, as a peer-facilitator in the Hunger Studies minor and as an advocate in Auburn's War on Hunger initiative. Nelson spent time as a field worker and community food assessment research intern in Alabama's Black Belt and as director of facilities with the Auburn Student Government Association. She continues to serve as a living wage advocate for Auburn employees and as an Auburn University Global Challenge Fellow, where she served as chair of sustainability.

Since her freshman year she has held several leadership roles in Campus Kitchens where she currently serves as the organization's president. Nelson spent last summer at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as a Collegiate Leader in Environmental Health where, among her many responsibilities, she assisted in building low-cost air pollution sensors to be used in at-risk communities situated near polluting industries.

"I am honored to represent Auburn as a finalist for the Truman Scholarship," Nelson said. "I look forward to sharing with the committee my involvement with the Campus Kitchens Project and the Office of Sustainability."

The Truman Scholarship Program was established to provide scholarships to outstanding students who are committed to a career in public service. Created in 1975 by an act of Congress the Harry S. Truman Scholarship is awarded to approximately 60 college juniors each year on the basis of four criteria: service on campus and in the community, commitment to a career in public service, communication ability and aptitude to be a "change agent" and academic talent that would assure acceptance to a first-rate graduate school. More broadly, Truman Scholars possess intellect, leadership skills and passion that would make them a likely force for the public good in any field.

Scholars receive an award of $30,000 which goes toward post-graduate education. In addition, Truman Scholars participate in leadership development programs and have special opportunities for internships and employment with the federal government.

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