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A Dartmouth junior who plans to work in international public health is among
the 65 college and university students chosen as 2007 Truman
Scholars. The scholarship provides college juniors bound for graduate
school with $30,000, as well as priority in admissions to top graduate
institutions, supplemental financial aid, and internship opportunities within
the federal government.
Zachary A. Kaufman '08, from Madison, Wis., says he plans to use the
scholarship to obtain a master's degree in public health with a focus on
international health, and to enter the public health arena in the Caribbean or
Latin America, dealing with government and international agencies but also
working directly with people and communities. "The Truman scholarships are
targeted at 'change agents,' and a change agent in public health needs to serve
both at the grassroots and policy level," Kaufman says.
Kaufman already has had significant experiences in his chosen field. As a
sophomore, he served as a medical translator and research assistant for a
medical team in rural Nicaragua (he is fluent in Spanish), as part of an
educational service trip sponsored by the Tucker Foundation. Under a Tucker
fellowship this past winter, he helped develop a sports-based,
adolescent-targeted HIV prevention program in Haitian migrant communities in
the Dominican Republic. He also conducted medical anthropology research in
those communities, funded by a Raynold's International Expedition Grant and Dickey
Center Undergraduate Research Grant. He intends to complete a special major
focused on health and society in Latin America.
In addition, Kaufman co-founded Dartmouth Ends Hunger, a Tucker
Foundation-sponsored group that aims to bring issues of world poverty to the
forefront on campus; is founder and director of Lose The Shoes, a barefoot
charity soccer tournament started at Dartmouth that is now in action on 10
college campuses around the country; and has worked for the past nine months
for Grassroot Soccer, an HIV/AIDS
prevention program focused in sub-Saharan Africa, founded by Thomas Clark
'92.
Truman Scholars were selected from among 585 candidates nominated by 280
colleges and universities. Each selection panel interviewed finalists from
colleges and universities in a three-to-four state region and generally elected
one scholar from each state and one at-large scholar from the region.
Scholarship recipients must be U.S. citizens, have outstanding leadership
potential and communication skills, be in the top quarter of their class, and
be committed to careers in government or the nonprofit sector. The 2007
scholars were announced on March 27 by former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine
K. Albright, president of the Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation.
By REBECCA BAILEY
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