CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Hannah Sundararajan, a junior at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, was awarded a $30,000 Truman Scholarship. Sundararajan is one of 54 Truman Scholars selected from a pool of 743 nominees from colleges and universities across the country.
Sundararajan, from New Berlin, Wisconsin, and a graduate of New Berlin High School, was selected by the Truman Foundation based on her academic success and leadership accomplishments, as well as her likelihood of becoming a public service leader.
Before attending the U. of I., she served in the Air National Guard as an engineering assistant. The top graduate from the U.S. Air Force Technical School in 2022, she then worked for an engineering firm and as part of a team inspecting stormwater pollution plans for the Wisconsin Department of Transportation.
At Illinois, Sundararajan — an agricultural and biological engineering major — is involved with the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers and Women in Engineering. In 2024, she was honored as the Outstanding Airman of the Year from among 2,400 enlisted members of the Illinois Air National Guard, where she continues to serve as a reservist.
In summer 2024, Sundararajan was selected to conduct research as part of the NASA Illinois Space Grant Consortium, using remote sensing to investigate the link between crop rotation and soil moisture dynamics in Illinois. In fall 2024, she was chosen to participate in the NASA DEVELOP program, which provides 10-week research opportunities to address environmental and policy concerns using NASA earth science information and geospatial data.
Her goals are to continue attending Illinois for her doctorate and later working with the University of Illinois Extension as an agriculture and agribusiness specialist. She is particularly committed to assisting underprivileged and female farmers improve their farmland’s resilience to climate change. To assist in her support of these populations, she is minoring in Spanish.
Truman Scholars participate in a summer institute, and Sundararajan plans to work with the Outreach and Assistance for Socially Disadvantaged and Veteran Farmers and Ranchers Program, also known as the 2501 Program. Her aim is to connect them with valuable resources, such as crop insurance and federal aid programs, with a particular emphasis on disaster relief and conservation efforts. The 2026 United Nations International Year of the Woman Farmer aligns with the Summer Institute 2026, and she believes this offers a unique opportunity to highlight policies and investments that support women farmers globally.
Established by Congress in 1975 as the living memorial to President Harry S. Truman, the Truman Scholarship carries the legacy of the 33rd president by supporting and inspiring the next generation of public service leaders. When approached by a bipartisan group of admirers near the end of his life, Truman embodied this commitment to the future of public service by asking Congress to create a living memorial devoted to this purpose, rather than a traditional brick-and-mortar monument.
