Rutgers University-Newark names its first Truman Scholar
A junior has been chosen as Rutgers University – Newark’s first Truman Scholar and the 10th from Rutgers University overall. Mussab Ali was one of 62 students nationally who were chosen from a field of over 768 candidates nominated by 315 colleges and universities this year based on their leadership potential, academic and communications skills and dedication to public service. At the age of 19 in November 2016, Ali ran for a seat on the Jersey City Board of Educat...
News 12 Staff
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Apr 18, 2017, 6:26 PM
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Updated 2,562 days ago
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A junior has been chosen as Rutgers University – Newark’s first Truman Scholar and the 10th from Rutgers University overall.
Mussab Ali was one of 62 students nationally who were chosen from a field of over 768 candidates nominated by 315 colleges and universities this year based on their leadership potential, academic and communications skills and dedication to public service.
At the age of 19 in November 2016, Ali ran for a seat on the Jersey City Board of Education. Though he didn’t win, he garnered nearly 7,167 votes and considered his run a success.
“When I ran for office, I knew I wasn’t going to win,” he said. “The biggest thing for me was to bring forward the issues of student involvement and empowerment.”
With a double major in neurobiology and economics, Ali is hoping to pursue a career in health policy.
“I’ve always been interested in health care, but I wasn’t that interested in health policy until I ran for office and I really started to discover how much policy actually impacts people,” he said.
