Updated on April 6, 2004 at 2:15 p.m.
Posted on March 30, 2004 at 4:12 p.m.
BIRMINGHAM, AL — University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) junior Akofa A. Bonsi, 20, has been named a 2004 Truman Scholar. Bonsi, whose parents are from Ghana, is one of 77 students selected from 222 finalists representing 300 colleges and universities nationwide. There were 609 applicants for the Truman Scholarship this year. The winners were announced March 30.
Bonsi is a 2001 graduate of Auburn High School. At UAB, Bonsi is a member of the Honors Program and is a philosophy major with a concentration in bioethics. She carries a 3.95 G.P.A. and has plans to earn a master’s degree in public health. She is the daughter of Conrad and Eunice Bonsi of Auburn.
“She is full of fun and laughter and joy in learning,” says UAB Honors Program Director Ada Long, Ph.D., “and she loves school in the way most other students love parties or sports. She also sees details that others do not see, and she can express her perceptions so that other people suddenly see them. Harry Truman would have been proud for her to have a scholarship in his name.”
The Truman scholarship is a $26,000 merit-based grant awarded to undergraduate students. It is one of the most prestigious national fellowships awarded each year. To qualify, students must be U.S. citizens, have outstanding leadership potential and communication skills and be committed to careers in government or public service.
Last year’s Truman Scholarship winner, Lucy Jones, an English major and also a student in UAB’s Honors Program, will be graduating in May.
“Our last year’s Truman Scholar, Lucy Jones, set a very high standard for future students,” said UAB School of Arts and Humanities Dean Bert Brouwer, M.F.A. “All of us in the school are proud and gratified that Akofa lives up to those standards and is being recognized for her many accomplishments. It is a credit to all of our faculty and students that our school has produced two Truman Scholars in two successive years.”
Bonsi is an elected student representative on the National Collegiate Honors Council Executive Committee. She also is a YMCA Collegiate Legislature coordinator, chairwoman of the UAB Joint Leadership Council, an Honors Council representative and chairwoman of the Black Student Awareness Association. Bonsi also participates in several public service and community activities. She is a coordinator for Alabama Cooperative Extension Outreach and for East Alabama AIDS Outreach.
Through the Honors Program, Bonsi worked with Max Michael, M.D., dean of the UAB School of Public Health, for more than six months for her project examining the complex issues surrounding health disparities. She explored the available literature related to hypertension and stroke morbidity and mortality among African-Americans, especially in the Deep South.
“Akofa’s interest extends beyond academic requirements to fulfilling her passion for an activist public health career,” Michael said. “Throughout our discussions she insisted on thinking through strategies to address these health disparities, not more studies.”
Congress established the Truman Scholarship Foundation in 1975 as the federal memorial to the 33rd President. The Foundation awards scholarships for college students to attend graduate school in preparation for careers in government or elsewhere in public service. The activities of the Foundation are supported by a special trust fund in the U.S. Treasury. There have been 2,330 Truman Scholars elected since the first awards were made in 1977. For more details on the Truman Scholarships go to www.truman.gov.
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