SLU Student Named Truman Scholarship Finalist
03/12/2025
Saint Louis University’s Sam Aitchison has been named a finalist for the prestigious Harry S. Truman Scholarship.
Aitchison is a junior majoring in finance, leadership and human resource management, and Catholic Studies. He hopes to pursue an MA in Educational Transformation and would like to eventually work for the U.S. Department of Education.
Sam Aitchison. Submitted photo.
The final round of competition takes place in March.
The Harry S. Truman Foundation was created in 1975. The Act authorized the Foundation to “award scholarships to persons who demonstrate outstanding potential for and who plan to pursue a career in public service,” and to conduct a nationwide competition to select Truman scholars. The Foundation awarded its first scholarships in the 1977-78 academic year.
Each year hundreds of college juniors compete for roughly 60 awards. The rigorous selection process requires that good candidates have a strong record of public service, as well as a policy proposal that addresses a particular issue in society.
Each Truman Scholar receives up to $30,000 toward a public-service graduate degree, leadership training, career counseling, and special internship and fellowship opportunities within the federal government.
In the history of the award, SLU has had five Truman scholars.
Those interested in applying for a Truman or another nationally or internationally competitive scholarship or fellowship should contact Rebecca Muich, Ph.D., at rebecca.muich@slu.edu or visit the Office of Competitive Fellowships and Scholarships webpage for more information.
Latest Newslink
- SLU Community Invited to Participate in St. Louis Literary Award EventsPulitzer Prize-winning author Colson Whitehead will receive the 2025 St. Louis Literary Award on Wednesday, April 9 at the Sheldon Concert Hall.
- New Mural by Acclaimed Artist Dominic Chambers Graces Searls HallThe Kranzberg Arts Foundation (KAF), in collaboration with Saint Louis University and the St. Louis Literary Award program, is proud to announce a new mural by acclaimed artist Dominic Chambers. Set to be completed in early April 2025 on the Walls Off Washington at Saint Louis University’s Searls Hall, this mural explores the legacy of the Underground Railroad and highlights its significance in Missouri and the St. Louis region.
- A New Location, A Renovation: SLU Community Joins CPHSJ to Cheer a Move That Was Years in the MakingAt the start of the spring 2025 semester, Saint Louis University's College for Public Health and Social Justice made a big move. Faculty, staff, and students left their homes in Salus Center, packed up, and headed north. The College now calls the second floor of the Marvin and Harlene Wool Center home. Members of the SLU community gathered in the space Monday afternoon to officially celebrate the move with an open house and ribbon-cutting ceremony.
- Saint Louis University Receives Grant to Improve Maternal, Infant Health in Missouri Through Diaper AccessSaint Louis University has been awarded a $538,431 grant from Missouri Foundation for Health to research ways to improve maternal and infant health in the state of Missouri with improved access to clean diapers. The three-year grant will study ways to improve access to diaper supplies for families in need across the state.
- Journal Issue Edited by SLU Professor Named Best Special Issue of the YearThe Council of Editors of Learned Journals awarded Leviathan Volume 25, Number 3, “Melville in Public” as the best special issue at the 2025 Modern Language Association (MLA) convention earlier this year. The issue was edited by Brian Yothers, Ph.D., professor and chair of the Department of English at Saint Louis University.
- Religious Communication Association Names SLU Professor’s Book of the Year for 2024Persuasions of God: Inventing the Rhetoric of René Girard by Saint Louis University’s Paul Lynch, Ph.D. has been named the 2024 Book of the Year by the Religious Communication Association (RCA). Lynch, an associate professor of English at SLU, received the award at the RCA’s annual conference. The book was published in February 2024 by Penn State University Press.
