NC State’s Ashley Lawson Receives Truman Scholarship

Ashley Lawson, a senior majoring in mathematics education and mathematics at North Carolina State University, has been awarded a 2018 Truman Scholarship.

The Sandy Ridge, N.C., native will use the $30,000 scholarship – a highly competitive, merit-based award offered to U.S. citizens and U.S. nationals from Pacific Islands who want to go to graduate school in preparation for a career in public service – to pursue her Ph.D. in public administration and development sociology. Her goal is to become a leader in empowering rural students.

Lawson is one of 59 students to receive the award from a field of 756 applicants.

Lawson started an organization called Meet My Future to address career development and employment opportunities for students in North Carolina’s rural areas. She interned with the N.C. Department of Public Instruction and the N.C. State Board of Education.

As a researcher with NC State’s SMART Collaborative – an interdisciplinary community of educators and researchers committed to improving public education – Lawson examined issues facing marginalized and underserved students and how their educational environment helps shape their identities, motivations and goals.

Lawson received the 2017-18 Outstanding Mathematics Education Student Award from the N.C. Council for Teachers of Mathematics (NCCTM). She is president of NC State’s student chapter of the NCCTM. She is an NC State Park Scholar and an ambassador for the university’s College of Education.

The Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation administers the Truman Scholarship program.

Find more information about Lawson and the university’s Fellowship Advising Office, which helps NC State students and alumni compete for prestigious awards.

– kulikowski –

This post was originally published in NC State News.