This Pharmacy Student Is the University’s 15th Truman Scholar
Omar M. Abuattieh will receive up to $30,000, which he plans to use for law school
Omar M. Abuattieh, a student attending the Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy at Rutgers University-New Brunswick, has been named a Truman Scholar.
The Holmdel, N.J., resident, who has bolstered his time at Rutgers with a mix of public service, government and leadership experiences, is among 54 students selected from 49 colleges and universities nationwide for the honor overseen by the Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation. The Truman Scholarship is a national award given to top students in the United States who are pursuing government or public service careers.
“It's a great honor, and I'm really excited for the opportunity to represent Rutgers, represent the Muslim community and also the health care industry – and specifically pharmacists,” said Abuattieh, a 22-year-old soccer enthusiast and Palestinian American who is in his fifth year of a six-year doctor of pharmacy program. He said he plans to use the scholarship to help fund his next pursuit: law school.
His clear commitment to public service, combined with is breadth and depth of knowledge on the issues his communities face, make him a very compelling candidate for the honor.
Anne Wallen
Director of the Office of Distinguished Fellowships
“After that, I think I see myself in public service at some level,” Abuattieh said.
Truman Scholars receive up to $30,000 for graduate or professional school. They also participate in leadership development activities and have opportunities for internships and employment with the federal government, according to the Truman Foundation.
On Friday, April 11, Rutgers University President Jonathan Holloway and Rutgers-New Brunswick Chancellor Francine Conway surprised Abuattieh, who was in Florida at the time celebrating his uncle’s engagement, with the news during a video chat.
“That's amazing,” said Abuattieh, who later promised to shake hands with both university leaders the next time they met in person.
“So proud of you,” Conway said. “Well deserved. You're such an impressive young man and we know there are lots of good things in your future, so congratulations, really.”
“As I said to Omar over zoom, I’m proud that I know him,” Holloway said. “From the moment I met Omar I knew that he would do great things in his life. I can’t wait to congratulate him in person.”
The newly named scholars were selected from 743 candidates nominated by 288 colleges and universities. This year’s awardees join a community of 3,618 Truman Scholars named since the first awards in 1977. Rutgers University has produced a total of 15 Truman Scholars to date, with 13 from the New Brunswick location and one each from the Camden and Newark campuses. Abuattieh is the first student from the Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy to win a Truman Scholarship.
My aspirations very early on was to find ways to support all Americans, and I believe that a focus on pharmacy is a possible means to achieve that.
Omar M. Abuattieh
Truman Scholar
“As a pharmacy student, Omar is a bit unusual in the field of Truman nominees,” said Anne Wallen, director of the Office of Distinguished Fellowships at Rutgers-New Brunswick. “However, his clear commitment to public service, combined with is breadth and depth of knowledge on the issues his communities face, make him a very compelling candidate for the honor.”
Wallen added that her office nominated Abuattieh for the Truman Scholarship as students can’t apply directly for the award.
As a teenager during the COVID-19 pandemic, Abuattieh and his friends formed a community service performing errands for local residents – elderly and immunocompromised – free of charge. They would buy groceries (getting reimbursed) and deliver them to residents’ doorsteps. A Holmdel High School student at the time, Abuattieh even created a website for the service called “Omar’s Neighborhood.”
“I noticed that a lot of people in my community were very confused,” he said. “There was a lot of misinformation going around, and I thought that pharmacy and health care was going to change in the future, and when it did, it should be shaped by its stakeholders. My aspirations very early on was to find ways to support all Americans, and I believe that a focus on pharmacy is a possible means to achieve that.”
Abuattieh, who played on the Holmdel High boys soccer team that won back-to-back state titles in 2017 and 2018, is involved in local politics, serving as a Republican county committee member for Holmdel, a part-time, elected position he has held for more than three years.
“We have responsibilities that extend from everything from voter outreach and supporting our local elected officials to actually electing county chairs,” he said. “It's the lowest elected position that you can have in government and it allows me to have a pulse on local politics as well as stay connected with community members. It also gives me some insight in what's happening statewide as well.”
Abuattieh, who co-founded a basketball league in Central Jersey, also was a member of the Rutgers University Senate (and a member of its information technology committee) from 2022 to 2023 and served on the Rutgers Pharmacy Governing Council as well as the Chancellor’s Advisory Council on Arab, Muslim and Palestinian Life.
During the summer, Abuattieh spent three months as an intern in the strategy realizations office of Merck & Co., a developer and producer of medicines, vaccines and biologic therapies, in Rahway, N.J.
He also is the Holmdel chair of the Ali Leadership Institute, which was founded by Mussab Ali, who in 2017 became Rutgers-Newark's first Truman Scholar. The Jersey City, N.J., organization aims to empower urban youth to become activists, organizers and leaders through civic education, leadership literacy and mentorship.
“The Truman Foundation is looking for students who have the potential to be true change agents in public service, and the bar is very high,” Wallen said. “Truman Scholars have a wide range of perspectives and areas of interest, with the commonality that they have a spark of leadership that makes it clear that they will make a difference in the world.”
Those interested in the Truman Scholarship program or other competitive fellowships may contact Wallen at the Office of Distinguished Fellowships.
