The Office of Fellowships and Scholar Programs is pleased to announce that Casey Brayton has been named a Truman Scholar Finalist. Highly competitive and prestigious, the $30,000 Truman Scholarship is awarded to approximately 60 juniors nationally for superior academic ability, a strong record of service and leadership, and plans for careers in public service.
Brayton will interview on Wednesday, March 7th in Atlanta. This year, 194 finalists have been named from 137 institutions across the US. For the entire list of Truman Scholar Finalists please see https://www.truman.gov/2018-truman-finalists/
Brayton is a member of the South Carolina Honors College, where she is the Solomon Blatt Carolina Scholar. She is double majoring in Marine Science and Mathematics with a minor in Geography. A 2017 NOAA Hollings Scholar and 2017 Udall Scholar, Brayton is also a Lieber Scholar, a Palmetto Fellow, and the 2017 Traci J. Heincelman awardee at USC. She has pursued research in multiple locations: at USC with Dr. Alexander Yankovsky, at Scripps via an REU last summer, and this coming summer with NOAA's Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Lab. On campus, she is founder and president of Women in Geosciences, Co-Chair and Chair-Elect of the Marine Technology Society, Vice President of the Society for Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science, and a member of Students Engaged in Aquatic Sciences (SEAS). Brayton plans to attend graduate school for a PhD in Physical Oceanography and pursue a career in both research and public policy in a NOAA research lab.
University of South Carolina Truman candidates are evaluated and nominated by a USC scholarship committee, chaired by David Simmons (Anthropology and Public Health). Other members of the University Truman Committee include: Steven Burritt (USC 1995 Truman Scholar), Hamid Khan (Rule of Law), Kirk Randazzo (Political Science), Shelley Smith (Sociology), and Mindi Spencer (Public Health).
Brayton was also assisted by the University's Office of Fellowships and Scholar Programs (www.sc.edu/ofsp ) which provides advisement and support to students competing for national fellowships. USC has had seven Truman Scholars, including Jory Fleming in 2016, Asma Jaber in 2007, Thomas Scott in 2006, Jeremy Wolfe in 2004, and Lara Bratcher in 2003.