Matthew Semino of Winthrop, Mass., a Cornell junior majoring in human service studies in the College of Human Ecology, has been chosen as a national Truman Scholar. The award provides up to $30,000 for further education and the opportunity to participate in leadership development programs.

The Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation was established by Congress in 1975 as the official federal memorial to honor the 33rd president. The foundation provides up to 85 of these prestigious and highly competitive merit-based scholarships for juniors with outstanding leadership potential. Undergraduate institutions may submit up to three nominees, and only two scholars are chosen from each state.

Semino was one of 69 scholars chosen so far from 717 candidates nominated by 369 colleges and universities. Each selection panel, which typically includes a university president, a U.S. Appeals Court Judge or a State Supreme Court Justice, a distinguished public servant and a past Truman Scholarship winner, interviewed finalists and selected one to three scholars each, said Jacqueline Soltys, Cornell fellowships coordinator at the University Career Center.

"This award is an honor for Cornell as well as for Matt," said Hunter Rawlings, Cornell president. "We are extremely proud of Matt, who exhibits the qualities of so many Cornell students -- he is intelligent, energetic and committed to public service."

Semino easily met the academic requirement for the Truman Scholarship, and he already has a rich background in government and public service. With a major concentrating in government and public policy, Semino recently finished three months working in London, assisting a minister of Parliament while taking related course work through the London School of Economics. While there, he researched and wrote a position paper on the impact of "welfare to work" programs in Great Britain and did an independent research project on ways that the political environment has shaped the attitudes of British citizens toward unemployed single mothers and the welfare state. He also helped draft a bill outlawing age discrimination in employment.

Last summer, Semino interned for the American Bar Association in Washington, D.C., writing articles for its annual conference book on immigration and welfare reform for the bar's "Legislative Update," covering hearings on the Kennedy-Kassenbaum health reform measure, Affirmative Action and the death penalty. The previous summer he worked with constituents in one of U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy's (D-Mass.) district offices.

"I don't agree with many of Senator Kennedy's viewpoints. Politically, I want to really stay open-minded," Semino said. "So many young people have already defined themselves politically. At this point, I think it's important to hear both sides of the story and get a wide variety of perspectives."

On campus, Semino has interned with consumer economist Lois Wright Morton on "Health Care Fraud and the Elderly," a Consumer Closeup publication, and on an educational booklet for families suffering from sudden financial loss. He also has worked with consumer economist B.J. Bristow, presenting "Best Money 2000," a statewide educational program.

In May, Semino will join the other Truman Scholars at the Truman Scholars Leadership Week at William Jewell College in Liberty, Mo., and this summer he plans to go to Shanghai, China, to participate in "WorldTeach," an eight-week service/learning program of the Harvard Institute for International Development. After his senior year at Cornell, where he will write a senior honors thesis, he plans to go to law school or get a joint degree in a law/Ph.D. program.