Nina Bundy selected as 2021 Truman Scholarship finalist

By Cody Boteler, Ron Santana, Roy Henry & Henry Basta on March 2, 2021

Towson University’s Nina Bundy, a junior in the Honors College who is studying political science and Spanish, was selected as a finalist to become a Truman Scholar, one of the nation’s most competitive scholarship awards.

The Ellicott City, Maryland, native is the first TU student to reach the finals. 

“Finding out I was a finalist really validated all the hard work that I’ve put into the process,” Bundy says. “It is an exciting time.”

Truman Scholars receive funding for graduate studies, leadership training, career counseling and special internship and fellowship opportunities with the federal government. The awards are granted by the Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation, which was established in 1975 by an act of Congress to “award scholarships to persons who demonstrate outstanding potential for and who plan to pursue a career in public service.”

A record 845 applications from 328 institutions applied for the 2021 award, and 193 finalists were selected. Awardees will be announced April 14.

“Nina Bundy is exemplary academic star on our campus. She has demonstrated tremendous leadership on our campus and beyond,” says Clare Muhoro, director of competitive fellowships and awards in the Office of the Provost.

Muhoro, also a professor in the Department of Chemistry, says the Truman Scholarship is the nation’s “premier” award for college juniors who are pursuing graduate studies and public service. Only about 6% of applicants are selected.

Towson University has a history of excellence in national and international awards, this recognition for Bundy being the latest. TU students have won awards from The Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarships program and the Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation in recent years.

Bundy wants to go to law school and become a criminal prosecutor. She says she eventually wants to work in the Department of Justice.

“As a prosecutor, I will utilize prosecutorial discretion to seek compassionate justice against crimes and serve as a gatekeeper for just prosecutions,” she says.

Bundy says the opportunities she’s had at TU are the reason she’s been able to achieve so much – from being a student director in the Honors College to being a senator in the Student Government Association.

Bundy’s FYE adviser and faculty director of the Honors College Alison McCartney, says she knew when they first met at  TU4U, an event for admitted students, that Bundy could achieve great things at TU.

“Nina has fulfilled all my expectations from that first meeting and then some. She’s really taken off at Towson University,” McCartney says. “We’re lucky to have her.”