Business major named outstanding senior
Jennifer K. Truong, a finance and marketing major, has been named the Turken Family Outstanding Graduating Senior for the ASU W. P. Carey School of Business for fall 2011.
She will receive a $1,500 scholarship sponsored by the Turken family and will have the opportunity to address the graduating class at the W. P. Carey School of Business undergraduate convocation, scheduled to take place Dec. 16. Truong will graduate with bachelor's degrees in finance and marketing, along with a minor in Chinese and a certificate in international business.
The first member of her family to graduate from a university, Truong says that if her parents had not been fortunate enough to find refugee camps to escape Cambodia, she would not have had the opportunity to follow their encouragement to “dream big.” She credits her success to her parents’ inspiration. “Their experience illustrated how I could take control of my own future,” she says.
Throughout her time at ASU, Truong has been involved in many student organizations, including leadership positions as president of the Barrett Honors College Residence Hall Association and as co-chair of Camp Kesem, through which participants raised $46,000 to organize a student-run summer camp for children with parents who have died from cancer, or are currently diagnosed with cancer.
She also has served as a facilitator of a freshman success course that exposes students to resources within ASU and the W. P. Carey School of Business. Additionally, she participated in the INROADS Program, a national nonprofit career development organization whose mission is to develop and place talented minority youth in business and industry and prepare them for corporate and community leadership.
Truong secured valuable internships that have enabled her to develop her experience and knowledge of analytical and client management skills. She was an institutional business intern with MetLife for two summers, and this past summer she participated in the J.P. Morgan Asset Management summer analyst program. She also previously interned with a social media company, WedDone, LLC.
Truong also is a member of Barrett, the Honors College, and her first group thesis involves a detailed business plan for the InnovationSpace program and centers on integration of sustainability, biomimicry, nanotechnology, and design consulting. Her second thesis is a consulting project focusing on a strategic empirical study to support a local Arizona company, Lee Lee Oriental Supermarket.
Truong also earned two prestigious scholarships at ASU. In the W. P. Carey School of Business she was named a McCord Scholar in the prominent program in which scholars mentor incoming freshmen. At the university level she was selected as an ASU Spirit of Service Scholar for her mentorship work. She received other awards for her academic accomplishments and service to the community, including INROADS Dedication to Service Honor Award, MetLife Corporate Scholarship, GEICO National Achievement Scholarship, and W. P. Carey Marketing Excellence Award.
Upon graduation, Truong will engage in a fellowship with Kiva, a microfinance institution. Once that is completed, she will work as an analyst in the Asset Management Division of J.P. Morgan.