Following is a list of the 2014 scholarship and fellowship recipients, affiliations, prize received, presenter and description of the winning application. Winners emerged from 175 applicants from 65 colleges and universities from eight countries.
Meng Meng
University of Southern California
DAVID R. SCHWEISBERG MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP
Sponsored by the Schweisberg Family; presented by David’s brother, Matthew Schweisberg
Meng wrote about the sink-hole crisis afflicting the coal cities of northern China where residents have been forced to abandon their homes and farms. A native of the area, the graduate of Shanghai University first covered the story as an intern for CNN. She intends to become a business and economics reporter and focus on the consequences of China’s rising status as an economic power.
Portia Crowe
Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism
REUTERS FELLOWSHIP
Sponsored by Reuters and funded by The Correspondents Fund; presented by Eddie Evans, Reuters
With an OPC Foundation fellowship in the Reuters bureau in Dakar, Portia will return to West Africa to further uncover the economic reasons why the region lags so far behind even East Africa in developing a modern financial system. In her essay, she wrote about remittance networks and other monetary issues that plague and retard growth in Burkina Faso. Portia is from Saskatchewan and speaks French and some Swahili and German.
Derek Kravitz
Columbia University School of
International and Public Affairs
HARPER’S MAGAZINE SCHOLARSHIP in memory of I.F.STONE
Endowed by John R. MacArthur and the Pierre F. Simon Charitable Trust; presented by Rick MacArthur,
publisher, Harper’s Magazine
Derek wrote about the industry that has risen around the nascent global kidnapping trade. With governments refusing to negotiate, the void has been filled by insurers and private security specialists like the Somali-born businessman whose greatest asset is knowing a lot of people. Derek is fluent in French and speaks some Arabic. He intends to use data-driven skills to cover Africa and SE Asia.
Maddy Crowell
Carleton College
IRENE CORBALLY
KUHN SCHOLARSHIP
Endowed by Scripps Howard Foundation; presented by Pam Howard, Pamela Howard Family Foundation and Scripps Howard Foundation
As a summer intern at the Ghana Daily Guide, Maddy covered the environmental consequences of mercury used by small-scale miners throughout Ghana to refine gold. Despite vast numbers afflicted with mercury poisoning throughout villages like Prestea, miners continue to use “the dancing liquid metal.” The resulting red dust produces a permanent and lethal smog. The editor-in-chief of her college newspaper, Maddy is eager to return to Africa.
Caelainn Hogan
Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism
H.L. STEVENSON FELLOWSHIP
Funded by the Gamsin family and sponsored by family and friends; presented by Sharon Gamsin
As a contributing writer for The Irish Times and others, Caelainn reported from eight countries in the last two years. In her essay, she wrote about the trials of Syrian refugees in Turkey and the efforts — despite the conflict and their homes in rubble — to return to their native Syria. An Irish citizen and graduate of Trinity College, Caelainn will return to Africa on an OPC Foundation fellowship in an AP bureau in either Lagos or Johannesburg.
Sam Kimball
New York University
STAN SWINTON FELLOWSHIP
Endowed by the Swinton Family;
presented by Helen Swinton,
Stan’s wife
Fluent in French and several dialects of Arabic, Sam has already reported on the Middle East from Yemen, Syria and Egypt. Now based in Tunis completing his master’s thesis on hip hop in the Tunisian Revolution, Sam wrote about the plight of Syrian refugees caught in the political maelstrom in Cairo and what that could mean for the political trajectory of Egypt. Sam has an OPC Foundation fellowship in the Associated Press bureau in Beirut.
Mark Anderson
University of California at Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism
EMANUEL R. FREEDMAN
FELLOWSHIP
Endowed by family; presented by
Tobias Bermant, Freedman Family
A graduate of the University of London’s School of Oriental & African Affairs, Mark currently has a fellowship from the U.S. Department of Education for African studies and journalism. Fluent in Swahili, he has an OPC Foundation fellowship in the Reuters bureau in Nairobi. In his essay, he wrote about the links between Turkey and Somalia and how Turkish development and investment is changing the war-torn African nation.
Olivia Crellin
Columbia University Graduate
School of Journalism
THEO WILSON SCHOLARSHIP
Sponsored by donations from family and friends; presented by Theo’s friend, Roz Massow
A daughter of two psychiatrists, the U.K. native and University of Cambridge grad learned the value of listening, a skill she developed in her reporting gigs throughout South America. Fluent in Spanish and Portuguese, Olivia has the first Wall Street Journal/OPC Foundation fellowship. In her essay, she wrote about the victims of sex trafficking throughout Brazil. She will work in a WSJ bureau in Europe.
Jian Gao
Academy of Art University
(San Francisco)
ROY ROWAN SCHOLARSHIP
Endowed by family, friends and
admirers; presented by Roy Rowan
In his essay, Jian described Red Fragments, a long-term documentary project that shows Chinese culture and Chinese living conditions in nine symbolic cities across the 10,000 miles in China where he traveled last year. Already an award-winning photojournalist, the native of China intends to focus on the economic boom of South East Asia’s developing nations.
Alison Sargent
École de Journalisme de Sciences Po
FLORA LEWIS INTERNSHIP
Endowed by the Pierre F. Simon Charitable Trust; presented by Flora’s friend, Jacqueline Albert-Simon
Alison is the first OPC Foundation scholar attending graduate school in Paris. She chose France not only to improve her French but also to learn the language of politics, economics and European institutionalism. She wrote her essay about the launch of BuzzFeed France and asked how universal is culture in a global society.
Anna Nicolaou
University of Toronto
S&P Award for Economic
and Business reporting
Endowed by Standard & Poor’s; presented by Sam Stovall, Chief
Equity Strategist, S & P Capital IQ
A former hedge fund analyst, Anna is attending graduate school on a fellowship that combines classwork and business reporting at The Globe and Mail. In her essay, she wrote about the very public spat between Germany and the U.S. over Germany’s continuing glide on a weak euro, buoyed by its out-sized surplus. Anna has an OPC Foundation fellowship in the Reuters Brussels bureau.
John Ismay
Columbia University Graduate
School of Journalism
JERRY FLINT FELLOWSHIP FOR INTERNATIONAL
BUSINESS REPORTING
Endowed by family and friends; presented by Jerry’s wife, Kate McLeod
A graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, John intends to use his mix of multimedia skills with his 12 years’ experience as a munitions specialist to work on the unintended consequences of American foreign policy and military actions abroad, as well as the global issue of arms proliferation. John has a Foundation fellowship and is headed to the Congo for GlobalPost.
Sam McNeil
University of Arizona
THE WALTER & BETSY CRONKITE SCHOLARSHIP
Funded by Daimler and Supported by CBS News and friends; presented by Ingrid Ciprian-Matthews; Vice President, CBS News
Sam has scoped out his beat: environmental convergence journalism focused on political and social problems stemming from resource scarcity and climate change. While filming a documentary on desertification, he discovered a former secret prison in Tunisia, the topic of his essay. Fluent in Levantine and Tunisian dialects of Arabic, Sam has an OPC Foundation fellowship in the AP Cairo bureau.
Shira Telushkin
Yale University
NATHAN S. BIENSTOCK
MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP
Endowed by the Richard Leibner and Carole Cooper Family Foundation; presented by Richard Leibner, Co-President, N.S. Bienstock
With a major in demonology, Shira has taken opportunities to engage in cultures from Pagans to Mormon missionaries. In her essay, she wrote about how, as a tour guide in the West Bank, she observed a shared understanding between an Orthodox Jew and his Palestinian host and their mutual respect for each other’s deep commitment to their respective religious faiths. She has an OPC Foundation fellowship in religious journalism with GlobalPost.