Two University juniors win Truman Scholarships

Two University students, Daniel Pastor '03 and Rebecca Gifford '03, have been named Truman Scholars, the University announced Tuesday.

The Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation aims to provide assistance to talented students who are interested in careers in public service and gives each award recipient a scholarship of $30,000 including $3,000 to be used senior year and $27,000 for further study.

The Scholars were selected based on "leadership potential, intellectual ability and likelihood of 'making a difference,' " according to the foundation's website.

Pastor — who is studying abroad in Chile — is majoring in politics with a certificate in Latin American studies.

After learning of his award through an e-mail from President Tilghman, Pastor said, he celebrated the occasion in the local style.

"My Chilean family and I had a round of Pisco Sour (the Chilean national drink) to celebrate," he said.

Pastor hopes to earn a master of public affairs in international relations, possibly at a Latin American university, and then a doctoral degree in political science.

He is considering working for the Peace Corps before attending graduate school and hopes to pursue a career in the State Department as a foreign service officer after completing his studies.

"I have always been interested in public service and foreign affairs because I can't imagine doing anything that interests me more in life," Pastor said.

He has served as a research assistant to former President Shapiro and as an intern with President Clinton's National Bioethics Advisory Commission.

He also interned last summer with Fundacion Acceso, a nongovernmental organization based in Costa Rica that focuses on economic development in Central America.

On campus, Pastor has held elected positions in the U-Council and the USG. He has also volunteered as a Spanish translator at Princeton Medical Center.

Get the best of the ‘Prince’ delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe now »

Pastor said he is writing his spring junior paper on one of the authoritarian enclaves within the current Chilean constitution. He plans to write his senior thesis on redemocratization and democratic consolidation in Chile and Argentina.

Gifford — a Wilson School major concentrating on education policy — hopes to earn a joint degree in law and public policy in graduate school.

After writing her fall junior paper on urban high schools, Gifford plans to delve further into education policy for her thesis.

Last summer, she was a Princeton Project 55 intern with the SEED Foundation, which created a charter school in Washington, D.C.

"I had the opportunity to see the challenges involved in creating a school from the ground up," Gifford said.

Gifford has also spent part of each of the last two summers working with Maryland Leadership Workshops, a nonprofit organization that aims to provide leadership training for diverse groups of high school students from all areas of Maryland. This summer, she will direct the organization's senior high school program.

At Princeton, Gifford has coordinated KIDPOWER through the Student Volunteers Council — a program that involves University students teaching local elementary school children about the environment.

Additionally, she served on the Wilson School's Student Advisory Committee and is an assistant resident adviser in Rockefeller College.

The Truman Foundation selected 64 students from 54 colleges and universities for this year's awards. The students were chosen from a pool of 590 candidates.

The 2002 Truman Scholars will assemble May 19 for a week-long leadership development program at William Jewell College in Liberty, Mo. and will receive their awards at the Truman Library in Independence, Mo. on May 26.