News and Information
Emory University
Atlanta, GA 30322

Release date: April 15, 1999
Contact: Deb Hammacher, Assistant Director

EMORY UNIVERSITY STUDENT AWARDED PRESTIGIOUS TRUMAN SCHOLARSHIP

Amos N. Jones, the son of Lamont and Kay Jones of Lexington, Ky. (40515), has been selected as a 1999 Truman Scholar by the Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation. A junior pursuing a dual major in political science and economics/mathematics, Jones is one of 79 scholars selected from 657 candidates from 332 U.S. colleges and universities. The scholars were selected on the basis of leadership potential, intellectual ability and likelihood of "making a difference."

The scholarship provides $30,000-$3,000 for the senior year and $27,000 for two or three years of graduate study. Scholars also receive priority admission and supplemental financial aid at some premier graduate institutions, leadership training, career and graduate school counseling, and internship opportunities within the federal government. Among other requirements, recipients must have outstanding leadership potential and communication skills and be committed to careers in government or the not-for-profit sector.

"Within the first five minutes of meeting him as a freshman I knew Amos would change the world around him," says Priscilla Echols, assistant dean of Emory College . "He is a remarkable combination of intellect, heart and charisma. He's truly a Renaissance man who will make a tremendous difference among the people he works with and the constituencies he serves in the future."

In addition to his academic studies, Jones is a musician and a journalist for two campus publications, the Atlanta Business Chronicle, and with The Lexington Herald-Leader during school breaks. He worked as a reporting intern for The New York Times during the fall of 1997.

Among his many accomplishments, Jones is a Robert W. Woodruff Scholar-Emory's most prestigious merit scholarship­­a Knight-Ridder Newspapers National Scholar, a National Merit Scholar, a Coca-Cola Scholar and a 1999 inductee into Omicron Delta Kappa national leadership honor society. Jones also is active in service to the university and community: He is president of Pi Sigma Alpha political science honor society, a member of the Alcohol Judicial Council, a mentor to freshmen and an admissions representative; programming intern with the Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation; and a participant in the foundation's "Ten Steps to Help You Find, Plan and Prepare for College" program.

Additional information about the Truman Scholars program is available at http://www.truman.gov.