Cortney Timmons
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Oklahoma State University student Cortney Timmons of Ada has been selected for one of the nation’s most prestigious scholastic honors, the Truman Scholarship. She is the 15th OSU student to receive the coveted honor.
Timmons was given the news in a surprise announcement last week by OSU President Burns Hargis.
“Cortney’s achievements and national recognition have brought honor to OSU,” said Hargis. “Our entire OSU community is proud of what she has accomplished. She is an extraordinary representative of the quality and creativeness that is evident in students at OSU.”
Timmons joins a growing list of OSU students to receive this recognition, according to Dr. Robert Graalman, director of the OSU Office of Scholar Development and Recognition. In fact, OSU students have been selected for this scholarship so many times that in 2000, OSU was designated as Oklahoma’s first Truman Honor Institution.
The Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation was created in 1975 to support students with exceptional leadership potential who are committed to careers in government, the nonprofit or advocacy sectors, education or other public service. The foundation selects only 80 U.S. college juniors each year to receive the $30,000 scholarship.
In addition to the scholarship, Timmons will receive leadership training, career and graduate school counseling and special internship opportunities within the federal government. Following her graduation, she plans to pursue a master’s degree and doctorate, studying both in the U.S. and in Great Britain.
“In speaking to those who attended her surprise Truman announcement, Cortney displayed that wonderful air of self-confidence with her characteristic sense of humility,” said Dr. Ed Miller, professor and associate dean in the OSU College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources. “Cortney is in every way a genuine and warm individual. Working with her is so rewarding, one of the highlights of my academic career.”
Timmons, a biosystems and agricultural engineering major, is the daughter of Steve and Lisa Timmons of Ada. She is a 2004 graduate of Byng High School.“There are few students in the history of OSU who have so completely given themselves to an undergraduate life that combines service and academics at such a high level,” said Graalman. “The best thing about Cortney is her character. She’s as respected and admired as anyone I’ve ever met at OSU.”
As a biosystems engineering major, her coursework encompasses the College of Engineering, Architecture and Technology, and the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources.
According to Dr. Karl N. Reid, dean of the College of Engineering, Architecture and Technology, Timmons has engaged in an unusual blend and level of leadership pursuits while maintaining an outstanding academic record.
“In more than 40 years in higher education, I have not met a student who has been a better model of excellence in scholarship, leadership and service,” Reid said.
Timmons is serving as president of the Student Council of the College of Engineering, Architecture and Technology. As a freshman, she was named a CEAT Scholar, and last summer traveled with 12 other scholars to Japan, accompanied by Dean Reid.
She also has been involved in the OSU Scholar Development and Recognition Program at OSU, and has been both a student and a summer traveler to Cambridge and Dublin for specialized courses.
In 2007, Timmons was among 80 students from 60 colleges and universities selected to receive a Morris K. Udall Scholarship, OSU’s fifth student to receive the award since the scholarship program began in 1996. Scholars were selected on the basis of leadership potential, academic achievement and commitment to careers in the environment, health care or tribal public policy, and received a stipend of $5,000.
As an Udall Scholar, she heard about a tailgate recycling program at the University of Missouri at Columbia, and with the support of the OSU Student Government Association started “Real Cowboys Recycle” at OSU home football games. The program grew throughout the year and she was named Oklahoma Collegiate Recycler of the Year, and the organization was recognized locally and regionally for its impact and popularity.
She also has served as an Agriscience Ambassador, has held the Frank Lucas Agricultural Policy Internship, and was selected twice for the highly competitive Lew Wentz Research Project Awards. She also received a first place award in research competition from the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers. She is a finalist this spring in the Glamour Magazine’s “Top 10 American Women Students” competition.
After completing her education, she hopes to design agricultural systems and programs that protect and sustain the quantity and quality of water, soil and other natural resources, while developing techniques to make agricultural operations more environmentally friendly.
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