Two College Juniors Chosen as 2019 Truman Scholars
Louis Lin, C'20, GR'21, and Ángel Ortiz-Siberón, C'20, have been selected as 2019 Truman Scholars. Created to honor President Harry S. Truman, the Truman Scholarship is a highly competitive, merit-based award offered to U.S. citizens and U.S. nationals from Pacific Islands who want to go to graduate school in preparation for a career in public service. Lin and Ortiz-Siberón are among 62 scholars selected from 840 nominees.
Lin, from Amityville, N.Y., is majoring in health and societies and political science and minoring in Asian American studies, education policy, and environmental studies. He is also in the B.A./Master of Public Health program. He is the proud son of immigrants and a first-generation, low-income student. His experiences have fostered a passion for health and education policy specifically as it pertains to equity, access, and quality for low income, immigrant communities. In 2017, Lin was elected to a four-year term as Judge of Election on his precinct’s Election Board in Philadelphia, and in 2018 to a four-year term as Committeeperson on the 27th Ward Democratic Executive Committee. He also works as a Management and Program Analyst for the Office of the Chief Counsel, DOT Federal Aviation Administration. Lin is also the professional development chair for Penn First and is part of the admissions dean's advisory board. He plans to pursue a J.D. focusing on health law and an M.S.Ed. in education policy, with the hopes of addressing disparities in children’s health and education.
Ortiz-Siberón, a native of Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, is majoring in sociology. He is devoted to increasing access to education and empowering low-income Puerto Rican communities across the U.S. As a Mellon Mays Fellow, Ángel’s research aims to create a comprehensive profile of the socioeconomic position of Puerto Ricans in the U.S., with a focus on poverty and social mobility. He is a leading member of the Puerto Rican Institute of Music and has been an active participant in local relief efforts for those affected by hurricanes Irma and María in Puerto Rico. Ortiz-Siberón has tutored and mentored low-income Latinx students in Philadelphia, Pa., and Waltham, Mass. He served as Loan Director for the Bentley University Microfinance Group, working to increase access to financing for small business owners. His work has been presented at the Society for the Study of Social Problems and published in El Nuevo Día, one of the major newspapers in Puerto Rico. Ortiz-Siberón intends to pursue a Ph.D. in Sociology and Social Policy and become a professor and voice of change for low-income Puerto Ricans in the U.S.
Along with an award of up to $30,000 toward graduate study, the Truman Scholarship offers access to programs such as Truman Scholars Leadership Week, the Summer Institute and various Truman Fellows Programs; and membership in a community of persons devoted to helping others and to improving the world.
To read a Daily Pennsylvanian interview with Lin and Ortiz-Siberón, click here.
