Four in a row: UAA University Honors College student wins prestigious Truman Scholarship

By: Staff Mar 31, 2009

Junior biological sciences major Deana Glick is fourth consecutive UAA student to win award

ANCHORAGE, AK – Deana Glick, a junior in the UAA University Honors College majoring in biological sciences, has been awarded a highly competitive and prestigious Truman Scholarship. Selections were announced on Thursday by Madeline K. Albright, former Secretary of State and president of the Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation.

Junior biological sciences major Deana Glick is fourth consecutive UAA student to win award

Glick is one of only 60 scholars named from 601 candidates nominated by 289 colleges and universities. She was selected “on the basis of exceptional leadership potential, intellectual ability and likelihood of 'making a difference.'” This is the fourth year in a row that a UAA University Honors College student has won a Truman Scholarship. Each scholarship provides up to $30,000 in support of graduate study.

A graduate of Soldotna High School, Glick initially attended Washington State University but quickly returned to Alaska to attend UAA. “When I transferred to UAA, I received better advice, learned about my options, and began to understand how to succeed academically,” Glick said. Upon graduating next May, she plans to continue her education by pursuing Master of Public Health (MPH) and medical degrees. “UAA offers a particularly appealing MPH degree, with a strong emphasis on the challenge of providing health care to rural areas,” said Glick. “I would like to combine my study in public health with medical training in the WWAMI (Alaska’s Medical School) program.” Glick’s goal “is to take the lead in efforts to reform health care in rural Alaska.”

Glick is currently getting hands-on experience in biomedical research with WWAMI program faculty mentor Dr. Cindy Knall. Glick’s research project is titled “The Effects of Benzene and Its Metabolites on Epithelial Lung Cells.” Glick also serves on the University Honors College Student Advisory Board where she is helping to develop a peer-mentoring program. Among Glick’s community-based projects is a nonprofit organization she founded in Soldotna called ABC Help (A Backpack Can Help). With the support of the local Rotary Club, Glick supplied new backpacks, filled with age-appropriate supplies for grades K-6, to students in five elementary schools and two homeless programs in her home community.

“I find it inspiring that Deana not only performs at a very high level in her academic work but that she fully engages in bettering her community through service,” said Honors College Dean Ronald Spatz. “These are the hallmarks of leadership – the solid core values that many of our UAA students share.”

Glick joins the ranks of the following former winners of the Harry S. Truman Scholarship:

Janet Napolitano, Department of Homeland Security Secretary and former Governor of Arizona
Susan Rice, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations
George Stephanopoulos, Broadcaster and Political Advisor
Jeffrey Toobin, Senior Legal Analyst for CNN and Staff Writer at The New Yorker
Neil Gorsuch, Circuit Judge for the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
Noam Scheiber, Senior Editor of The New Republic
Luis Ubiñas, President of the Ford Foundation

For more information, or to arrange an interview with Deana Glick, please contact Jessica Hamlin at (907) 786-1288 or anjmh6@uaa.alaska.edu.