Two Yale College juniors, August Rios and Rishi Shah, are among 54 exceptional college students nationwide selected as 2025 Truman Scholars. The scholarship is the premier graduate scholarship for aspiring public service leaders in the United States.
Truman Scholars — who are chosen for their outstanding leadership potential, a commitment to a career in government or the nonprofit sector, and academic excellence — receive funding for graduate studies, leadership training, career counseling, and special internship and fellowship opportunities within the federal government.
Members of this year’s cohort were selected from 743 candidates nominated by 288 colleges and universities. The scholars were recommended by 17 independent selection panels based on the finalists’ academic success and leadership accomplishments, as well as their likelihood of becoming public service leaders. Regional selection panels included distinguished civic leaders, elected officials, university presidents, federal judges, and past Truman Scholarship winners.
August Rios, a sociology major from Bluffton, South Carolina, is committed to advancing policy that resolves the shortage of affordable housing. Rios, who grew up in a low-income household of eight, believes that public policy should be responsive to people’s most fundamental needs. A licensed real estate agent with Neighborhood Housing Services of New Haven, he has held roles at the Connecticut Fair Housing Center, Legal Services NYC’s Right to Counsel Unit, and the City of New Haven Fair Rent Commission.
At Yale, he co-founded and directs the Yale Student Association for Small Claims Assistance (Y-SASCA). He is also co-director of the Urban Fellows program at the Dwight Hall Center for Public Service and Social Justice and a researcher at both the Institute for Social and Policy Studies (ISPS) and the Housing and Health Equity Lab. He has led eviction docket research as a project leader for the Yale Undergraduate Legal Aid Association (YULAA), co-directed the Resource Access Mapping Project (RAMP), and studied federal housing reform as an ISPS Director’s Domestic Policy Fellow.
Across these roles, Rios said, he has sought to understand solutions that address both immediate needs and the structural drivers of housing scarcity.
Rishi Shah, who was born and raised in Orlando, Florida, is double majoring in applied mathematics and molecular biophysics and biochemistry and pursuing a certificate in global health studies. He aims to leverage data science techniques to build solutions that improve health outcomes and health care delivery. He conducts research on cancer evolution at the Yale School of Public Health and studies health equity at the Yale School of Medicine.
On campus, he directs education and curriculum for the Hypertension Awareness and Prevention Program at Yale (HAPPY) and Code Haven, is a counselor for Camp Kesem, and volunteers with the Medical Debt and Insurance Counseling department at the HAVEN Free Clinic. A strong advocate for healthy aging and bridging the digital divide between generations, he co-founded and runs The Nourish Project, a national organization dedicated to promoting longevity, safe aging, and social connectedness among older adults. After graduation, he hopes to attend medical school.
The Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation was created by Congress in 1975 to be the nation’s living memorial to the 33rd U.S. president, with a mission to support and inspire the next generation of public service leaders.
“Resourceful, patriotic leaders, today’s Truman Scholars would make President Truman proud,” said Terry Babcock-Lumish, the foundation’s executive secretary and a 1996 Truman Scholar. “Rising to meet their moments in this century as he did his in the 20th century, they are dedicated public servants who do not shy from challenge.”
This year’s cohort joins a community of 3,618 past scholars, including Neil Gorsuch, associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (a 1987 scholar), U.S. Senators Chris Coons ’92 M.A.R., ’92 J.D. (1983) and Andy Kim (2003), U.S. Representative Gabe Amo (2009), Dusty Johnson (1998), and Greg Stanton (1990), and former White House National Security Advisors Susan Rice (1984) and Jake Sullivan ’98, ’03 J.D. (1997).
