MSU’s Green named university’s newest Truman Scholar, eyes public service career with biochemistry focus
Contact: Mary Pollitz
STARKVILLE, Miss.—Mississippi State is celebrating the university’s newest Harry S. Truman Scholarship winner. Claire Green of North Little Rock, Arkansas, is receiving up to $30,000 in graduate-study expenses as part of the highly coveted national award honoring the nation’s 33rd president.
The MSU junior is one of 54 selected from 49 colleges and universities. The Truman Foundation’s Finalist Selection Committee chose 201 students from 137 institutions to interview with the Foundation’s Regional Review Panels in March and early May, narrowed from an initial pool of 743 applicants from 288 institutions.
Green, a biochemistry major concentrating in entomology, is a Louis A. Hurst Jr. Presidential Endowed Scholar in MSU’s Judy and Bobby Shackouls Honors College. She serves as vice president of the university’s Speech and Debate Council, works in the university’s Pollinator Health Lab researching honeybees and serves as president of Students for a Sustainable Campus.
“Claire’s journey through Mississippi State has been a real pleasure to observe,” said MSU President Mark E. Keenum. “Claire has worked very hard to earn her accolades and is most deserving of this high honor. Throughout her MSU career, Claire has consistently exuded excellence, and attaining the impressive status of a Truman Scholar is a continuation of that remarkable trajectory. Rhonda and I are extremely proud of her and offer our very sincere congratulations.”
David Hoffman, MSU Office of Prestigious External Scholarships director, said Green is a model student committed to serving the university and the public.
“We are overjoyed her current and future commitment to public service is being recognized by the Truman Scholarship Foundation,” he said. “Clearly, her research with bees and future career helping enact science-based policies to protect these essential pollinators piqued the committee’s interest. However, it was her servant leadership at MSU and in the Starkville community that helped her to stand out among a room full of extraordinary students. Claire is truly one of the most impressive student-leaders I know here at MSU.”
Green intends to continue her entomology research in graduate school at the University of York’s Stockholm Environment Institute in the United Kingdom, exploring issues facing bees and helping form beneficial policies. While in Starkville, Green has fully embraced the city and MSU, including various roles such as volunteering with the non-profit Small Mercies Animal Rescue and with the university’s ACCESS program, MSU Student Association and the Equestrian Team. Green is the university’s 20th Truman Scholar.
“It’s a huge honor and I’m very grateful to represent Mississippi State,” Green said. “I definitely couldn’t have done it without all the wonderful resources and offices here at MSU. The Truman Scholarship will help support me toward a career in public service. I’m grateful for the resources to do that and hopefully give back to the communities around me.”
Learn more about the Shackouls Honors College and OPES at www.honors.msstate.edu and www.honors.msstate.edu/initiatives/office-prestigious-external-scholarships.
Mississippi State University is taking care of what matters. Learn more at www.msstate.edu.