Jared Crawford has been named a 2010 Truman Scholar, making him the 21st member of an elite group of WVU students and graduates.
The Harry S. Truman Scholarship is a national honor given annually to approximately 60 college juniors with exceptional intellectual ability, commitment to public service and the potential to make significant contributions to national public policy.
Crawford, who will graduate next year from WVU with dual degrees in computer and electrical engineering, a computer science minor and an emphasis in nanotechnology, was chosen from 176 finalists representing 122 different colleges and universities across the United States, culled from 576 applications overall.
He is the only student from a West Virginia college or university to receive the honor this year.
“I am very pleased and proud to be honored,” Crawford said.
“I thought at first that I hadn’t won, as the Twitter-feed from the Truman Foundation said all university presidents had been notified and I hadn’t received a phone call yet. So it was a big surprise and really exciting when President (Jim) Clements called to let me know I had won.”
“This is quite a tribute and a much deserved honor for Jared,” said President James P. Clements.
“This is also a strong indication of the kind of scholar WVU attracts, and the quality of work they can do and the goals they can reach here at WVU. It’s also a recognition of our top faculty who mentor and motivate our students.”
It’s the fifth straight year a WVU student has been selected for a Truman scholarship.
Crawford plans to attend law school to study patent law in the hopes of becoming a patent attorney at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Eventually, he would like to become a patent judge.
“Patent law seems like interesting and rewarding work – something that blends my knowledge of engineering with my passion for the law,” Crawford said.
As a Truman Scholarship finalist, Crawford had to pitch his policy proposal on patent reform to an interview panel that included influential members of his chosen profession.
Crawford’s proposal attempts to address the backlog of 1.2 million pending patents. He would tackle this delay by opening the patent review process “wiki”-style, by allowing citizen experts to review patent applications. Their comments would be shared with patent agents as part of the decision making process. Crawford’s idea is to set up cash incentives to attract the best and brightest to weigh in on these complicated and sometimes tedious rulings.
“The scholarship interview may have been the most stressful thing I’ve ever done,” Crawford said.
“But through the long preparation period, I learned a lot about patent law and I now have a better grasp on what I want my career path to look like. I was glad to have the opportunity to go through this process, win or lose.”
Crawford has been an exceptional leader while at WVU. He has participated in many student groups across campus, and currently serves as vice president for Engineers Without Borders, president of the Association for Computing Machinery and an officer in both the Free Software Group and Mountaineers for AIDS Awareness.
In addition, he has given back through service in many ways. As a freshman, he set up a water filtration project and traveled with WVU Engineers Without Boarders and the Rotary Club of Parkersburg to Nicaragua to build and install water filters at children’s feeding centers. Since that time, waterborne illness and death have greatly decreased in the community.
“Engineers don’t usually have the opportunity to directly impact lives in this way, and it was extremely gratifying to use my knowledge and skills to help these people,” Crawford said.
Other work with Engineers Without Borders includes energy audits at the WVU Student Recreation Center, and helping to write an instruction manual on fabricating and installing water filters for distribution in Nicaragua.
Crawford is also the creator of iWVU, the interactive WVU application for the iPhone.
He developed and created iWVU as a hobby, learning how to make apps by watching Stanford University’s iPhone application programming course on iTunes U.
Crawford now works in partnership with University Relations’ Web Services on iWVU, and they have recently released an updated version that includes the WVU calendar, directory information, a detailed campus map and real-time PRT status updates.
“This has been a great collaborative effort that’s taken iWVU to a higher level,” Crawford said.
Crawford is a graduate of Parkersburg South High School. He is also a member of the Wesley United Methodist Church in Morgantown, whose pastor, Reverend Michael Atkinson, wrote a recommendation essay on Crawford’s deep commitment to public service.
The Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation was established by Congress in 1975 to honor the nation’s 33rd President and continue his commitment to education and public service.
Each year, the prestigious and selective Truman Scholarships for graduate study are awarded after a rigorous selection process that draws hundreds of applications.
President Truman believed an educated citizenship should give back to its community, and the Truman Scholarship is awarded to young leaders who demonstrate commitment to public service, have a compelling record of leadership and show a strong likelihood of succeeding in the graduate school program they’ve proposed.
The Truman Scholarship provides up to $30,000 for graduate study. Recipients also receive priority admission and supplemental financial aid at some premier graduate institutions, as well as leadership training, career counseling and internship opportunities within the federal government.
The 2010 Truman Scholars will attend the Truman Scholar Leadership Week from May 25-30 at William Jewell College in Liberty, Missouri. This event introduces the newly selected scholars to the Truman community and is capped with a special awards ceremony at the Harry S. Truman Library in Independence, Missouri.
For a listing of the 2010 scholars, see www.truman.gov.
Recent Truman scholars from WVU are: John Armour, 2009; Emily Calandrelli, 2008; Matthew Scott Delligatti, 2007; Rebecca Louise McCauley, 2006; Franchesca V Nestor, 2004; and Joshua E Whitehair, 2000
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