Brandeis junior selected as Truman Scholar
By David Levin
April 12, 2024
For the first time in 16 years, a Brandeis student has been selected as a Truman Scholar. Daniel Block ’25 is one of only 60 scholars selected this year from students nationwide. He is Brandeis’ 11th Truman Scholar.
The prestigious award, which is provided by the Harry S. Truman Foundation, recognizes college juniors who demonstrate outstanding potential for a career in public service — a goal that Block has been avidly pursuing for much of his life.
In 2023, he received a Davis Projects for Peace Grant to fund his work supporting sustainable agriculture in Illinois, and a Brandeis University Year of Climate Action Grant to write and implement environmental curricula at the Lemberg Children’s Garden on campus. He has also served on the Brandeis University Law Journal, Brandeis Reform Chavurah, and J Street U Brandeis.
Block is pursuing a double major in American studies and environmental studies and a minor in legal studies. This semester he is studying abroad in Tanzania with the School for Field Studies, where he is conducting a grassland health assessment in the Burunge Wildlife Management Area.
“Daniel represents everything the Truman Foundation was created to support – strong leadership, a vision for change, and the heart and compassion to work to improve the welfare of others,” said Meredith Monaghan, Executive Director of Academic Fellowships.
As a newly-minted Truman scholar, Daniel plans to first intern for the Environmental Enforcement Section of the Department Of Justice, a unit that is responsible for enforcing regulations like the Clean Air Act. After that, he plans to pursue a combined degree in Law and Environmental Management at Yale, where he would like to continue his work with the Yale Center for Natural Carbon Capture and become a leading voice on the issue of administrative regulation of greenhouse gas emissions. In the future, Daniel's goal is to to serve as the Associate General Counsel for the Air and Radiation Law Office at the Environmental Protection Agency. He’ll be in good company: since 1977, when the award’s first cohort was selected, Truman Scholars have gone on to work in the White House, sit on the U.S. Supreme Court, serve in federal and state legislatures, and become leaders in academia, research, and health care.