Congratulations to MIW Alumni, Shuyan Tang (Winter '24 Cohort), for being named a 2025 Truman Scholar!
The Truman Foundation is the nation’s official living memorial to our thirty-third president and the presidential monument to public service. We are an independent federal agency within the White House complex.
Created by Congress in 1975, the Foundation was President Truman’s idea. A pragmatic Midwesterner who did not attend college, President Truman did not want a brick-and-mortar monument. Instead, he encouraged a living memorial that would give life to the values of service that animated his career. In that spirit, the Truman Foundation supports Americans answering the call to serve.
Our mission makes us a beacon for public service. Our vision is of a country that deeply values public servants. In pursuit of this mission and vision, we award the Truman Scholarship, the premier graduate fellowship in the United States for those pursuing careers as public service leaders, in addition to programs across the course of Truman Scholars' careers.
Shuyan Tang grew up in a rural Chinese working-class family. Despite living in a household of domestic violence, homophobia, and poverty, Tang became a first-generation college student in Beijing, where he worked as an advocate for LGBTQ+ rights. He co-authored a major survey on LGBTQ+ mental health and aided the LGBTQ+ community in China.
After arriving in the U.S., Tang navigated the complex and difficult immigration process and became a U.S. resident. He then served in congressional offices, led a successful local campaign, and became a U.S. citizen by joining the Air Force Reserve — all while building a career in public service.
