MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia University student Azeem Khan has been named a Truman Scholar. The award is the nation’s top graduate fellowship award for up-and-coming public service leaders. Khan is the 26th Mountaineer to earn the honor since the first scholarship was awarded in the 1977–78 academic year.
“The 25 Truman Scholars that have come before me have just made a really incredible impact on our state and our country,” Khan said. “So, it’s an honor, but it’s also humbling to remind myself to use this to try to make our state and country a better place.”
The Charleston native is a political science major with minors in business cybersecurity and philosophy. Khan also serves as the co-chair of the Mountaineer Fentanyl Education Task Force with the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of West Virginia, Bill Ihlenfeld, and president pro tempore of the WVU Student Government Association.
“I don’t think it’s impossible to understate the importance of doing the little things and doing hard work,” Khan said. Really, just every single day, trying to win the day by giving it your all.”
Khan is especially grateful to the WVU team that helped with the application process and letters of recommendation.
Khan said his family immigrated to America in 1963, and he said there is no title that makes him feel more pride than to be called an “American.” But he said we all must embrace the hard work to keep the dream of freedom and opportunity alive.
“I want to do everything I can to try and help make sure those opportunities are afforded to everybody in our state and country,” Khan said. “I’m just really blessed and really grateful because I wouldn’t be here without my family.”
Khan will graduate in the spring of 2024 and has plans to attend law school while continuing his public service efforts.
“We’ve all got to do our small part,” Khan said. “So, through student government and the Mountaineer Fentanyl Education Task Force, I’ve obviously had a passion for mental health and trying to make a difference on those issues.”
Each Truman Scholar receives funding for graduate studies, leadership training, career counseling, and special internship and fellowship opportunities within the federal government.