Truman Angell was in the middle of working a lunch shift when he got the call.
“The dishwasher was going in the back, the dishes were clanking, it was kind of funny,” Angell recalls with a laugh.
He struggled to hear the person on the other end of the phone. It was O’Neill Indianapolis Executive Associate Dean Jeremy Carter, calling with good news: Truman had been named the O’Neill School’s Chancellor’s Scholar—the undergraduate student with the highest GPA among each school’s graduating class.
“I don’t think I’ve ever gotten first place in anything in my life, so this is definitely an honor,” he says. “And I was genuinely surprised because I didn’t pursue my undergraduate career in a competitive manner. I was happy to see that I had just done my best and earned this award.”
But the awards didn’t stop there. Just a few weeks later, Truman received another congratulatory message from Carter. He had been named O’Neill’s Outstanding Student in Public Affairs for the Class of 2024, an honor that comes directly from faculty nominations.
“The fact that some faculty members I’ve interacted with thought highly enough of me to nominate me is wonderful to know,” he says. “I’ve had great professors, including adjunct faculty who are practicing and teach us what they’re applying every single day.”
Truman’s time at O’Neill has been spent setting the stage for a career in sustainability—a connection that started when he was young.
“I’ve always been interested in the outdoors,” he says. “I grew up camping and being outside. I have this inherent love for nature, but I didn’t really know what I could do with that as a career.”
It wasn’t until he served on a religious mission in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, that he says he developed an even deeper appreciation for the relationship between people and nature.
“There’s a delicate balance there and I just grew a desire to play a hand in that,” he says. “How can we help balance that relationship?”
After returning from his trip, he started looking at how he could turn his passion into a paycheck and a full-fledged future career. While he was interested in the legal and political processes involved in sustainability efforts, Truman admits he wasn’t interested in running for office.
That’s when he says his parents stepped in to help him weigh other options.
“There are a lot of careers you can have that incorporate sustainability,” he says. “My dad helped open my mind to the possibilities of how to make a living while also pursuing my interests so I could get the best of both worlds.”
That’s when he found O’Neill Indianapolis and its Sustainable Management and Policy major.
“I saw this degree and knew it would be a great avenue toward beginning that educational and career journey,” Truman says.
Now that one part of that journey is coming to a close, his end goal is to be an environmental litigator and attorney. And he’s been racking up the experiences to make it happen. That includes an internship with the Indiana House of Representatives, where he saw first-hand the legislative process as lawmakers worked on sustainability efforts in Indiana.
“I had the privilege of working with Representative Soliday, who works with the Utilities, Energy, and Telecommunications Committee,” Truman says. “I was able to apply some of the sustainability knowledge I had gained at O’Neill while growing my understanding of utilities and how energy plays into Indiana’s sustainability initiatives. That was a great experience, and I couldn’t have asked for anything better to help me dive into exactly what I’m interested in.”
He now says his dream job would be to work at an NGO or a law firm that litigates corporations that violate environmental regulations or government agencies that don’t enforce environmental protection laws.
He’s already taking the next step to pursue that goal. After commencement, he and his wife will move to Ohio where he’ll begin law school. And he says he has the O’Neill School to thank for setting his foundation.
“O’Neill offers such a wonderful high-quality education with so many different classes and opportunities to explore,” he says. “Until I did my internship at the Statehouse, I never realized the value of having state government less than a mile away, right in your backyard. If you want experiential opportunities in government and sustainability—which are increasingly essential in higher education—O’Neill Indianapolis will provide you with those opportunities.”
