Scholar Awards — OPC Foundation

DAVID R. SCHWEISBERG MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP

Sponsored by the Schweisberg Family

Schweisberg joined United Press International in 1980 and worked for its bureaus in Detroit, New York, Washington, Hong Kong and Tokyo. In 1987 he established UPI’s bureau in Beijing. During the Tiananmen Square student uprising in 1989, his astute dispatches, delivered under the threat of censor and arrest by the Chinese authorities, were read and heard throughout the world. He was one of the last reporters to leave when the protest was finally crushed by the Chinese Army.

REUTERS FELLOWSHIP

Sponsored by Reuters

Presented by the world’s largest international multimedia news provider, this award reflects the commitment of Reuters to help foster the careers of correspondents in the fields of international affairs and economics. Reuters, the media division of Thomson Reuters, touches more than 1 billion people every day via Thomson Reuters desktops, the world’s media organizations and directly to business professionals through Reuters.com and other digital platforms.

HARPER’S MAGAZINE SCHOLARSHIP IN MEMORY I.F.Stone

Endowed by John R. MacArthur, Publisher of Harper’s, and the Pierre F. Simon Charitable Trust

In a career that spanned more than 65 years, Stone, a veteran Washington reporter, is best known for publishing I.F. Stone's Weekly from 1953 to 1971, a newsletter that printed the news that was overlooked in the mainstream press. His work almost single-handedly revived investigative reporting. He is remembered as a tough-minded but pacifist gadfly, a tireless examiner of public records, a hectoring critic of public officials, and a pugnacious advocate of civil liberties, peace and truth.

IRENE CORBALLY KUHN SCHOLARSHIP

Endowed by the Scripps Howard Foundation

Despite amazing obstacles, Irene fought her way onto news staffs in New York, Paris and Shanghai. After the death of her husband in China, Irene was hired as a reporter by her friend Roy W. Howard, Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of the New York World Telegram. Irene was the first person to tell the world about the romance between Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson. Her 1938 autobiography, “Assigned to Adventure,” was a best-seller. A founding member of the Overseas Press Club, Irene died in December of 1995 at the age of 97.

H.L. STEVENSON FELLOWSHIP

Sponsored by donations from family and friends; funded by the Gamsin Family

Former OPC and Foundation president, H.L .Stevenson rose through the ranks of UPI from regional editor in the South to editor-in-chief in New York City where he retired in the mid-80s as a legend, a powerhouse, a terror and an inspiration. He supervised coverage of the Apollo moon landing, the Middle East conflicts and the energy crisis. As president of the OPC Foundation, he started the current scholarship program.

STAN SWINTON FELLOWSHIP

Endowed by the Swinton Family

Stan Swinton spent 42 years with the Associated Press, filing stories with his byline from 100 different countries. He joined AP in 1940 and also worked for Stars and Stripes during World War II. One of his best known stories was an eyewitness account from behind the German lines in 1945 in which he described how Benito Mussolini was slain and hung upside down by Communist partisans in Milan.

EMANUEL R. FREEDMAN SCHOLARSHIP

Endowed by family

Emanuel R. Freedman, known as Manny, was the foreign editor of The New York Times for 16 years and then an assistant managing editor. He died in 1971 and his widow, Eva Bermant, endowed the scholarship with her second husband, Tobias Bermant. Freedman is credited with hiring an entire generation of correspondents for the Times and building its global presence during his career there, which lasted from 1948 to 1971. He guided coverage of such events as the Korean conflict, the Hungarian uprising and the Suez crisis of 1956, and the 1954 Geneva conference on Indochina.

THEO WILSON SCHOLARSHIP

Sponsored by donations from family and friends

Theo Wilson was the most famed reporter of the New York Daily News when it was the country’s biggest newspaper. She was considered one of the best trial reporters in the business. She flourished from the 1950s into the 1970s and she liked a good time. She also covered the space program, Jacqueline Kennedy’s travels to the Middle East, among other stories. She was an OPC member, good company and popular with colleagues.

ROY ROWAN SCHOLARSHIP

Endowed by family, friends and admirers

Roy Rowan, correspondent, writer, editor and former OPC President, spent 35 years at Time serving as bureau chief in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Rome, Tokyo, Bonn and Chicago, and as Assistant Managing Editor for the weekly Life in charge of news. As a foreign correspondent, he covered the civil war in China, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War and was among the last Americans evacuated from Saigon by helicopter in 1975. Rowan has written scores of articles for Fortune and other national magazines and is author of several books. He has spent his career encouraging other journalists to follow their dreams, a commitment he continues with talented scholarship winners.

FLORA LEWIS FELLOWSHIP

Endowed by Jacqueline Albert-Simon and the Pierre F. Simon Charitable Trust

Flora Lewis was a Paris-based commentator on international events for The New York Times for over 25 years. Her indefatigable reporting and graceful writing received wide recognition. She received more than a half-dozen honorary doctorates, lifetime achievement awards from the OPC Foundation and the National Press Club, and awards from the Columbia University School of Journalism and the Aspen Institute. The French government made her a Chevalier in the Legion of Honor.

S&P GLOBAL AWARD FOR ECONOMIC AND BUSINESS REPORTING

Endowed by S&P Global

The S&P Global scholarship was created specifically to encourage talented young reporters considering careers in financial journalism. It is intended to reward the study of accounting, financial analysis, and investment research related to the functioning of global financial markets and to enhance the coverage and understanding of international business and investing. Standard & Poor’s is the world’s foremost provider of financial market intelligence, including independent credit ratings, indices, risk evaluation, investment research and data.

THE JERRY FLINT FELLOWSHIP FOR INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS REPORTING

Supported by family and friends

Jerry Flint began his career at the Wall Street Journal in 1956 and spent 12 years at The New York Times. He joined Forbes in 1979, holding several senior positions and covering international stories in Cuba, Nicaragua, and Africa. In 1996, Flint became a columnist writing about the automotive industry, where he earned the moniker, Dean of Automotive Writers. He received numerous awards and was recognized by his peers as one of the smartest, most contrarian, relentless reporters in the last century. Flint’s reputation lay in his ability to see a story for what it was, not for what it appeared to be. Click here for more on his career.

THE WALTER & BETSY CRONKITE SCHOLARSHIP FOR ASPIRING FOREIGN CORRESPONDENTS

Supported by CBS News and friends

Walter Cronkite was called "the most trusted man in America" during his two decades as anchor of The CBS Evening News. He began his career as a correspondent for United Press International during World War II, then joined CBS television in 1950 as a reporter. He became the evening news anchor in 1962 and held that post until his retirement in 1981, ending each broadcast with "...and that's the way it is," his television signature. Betsy, his wife of nearly 65 years, was also a veteran foreign correspondent for the Voice of America and the Kansas City Star.

NATHAN S. BIENSTOCK MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP

Endowed by the Richard Leibner and Carole Cooper Foundation

In 1964, Nathan “Nate” Bienstock along with Sol Leibner and his son Richard formed the talent agency N.S. Bienstock, Inc. Run by Richard and his wife Carole since the 1970s, N.S. Bienstock became part of United Talent Agency in 2014. The company has represented, among others, Walter Cronkite, Dan Rather, Mike Wallace, Diane Sawyer, and Anderson Cooper. Richard and Carole have been inducted into The Giants of Broadcasting by the Library of American Broadcasting, the Broadcasting & Cable’s Hall of Fame, and NATAS Gold Circle.

THE FRITZ BEEBE FELLOWSHIP

Endowed by Anne and Larry Martz

As the regent who ran The Washington Post Co. between the death of Philip Graham in 1963 and Katharine Graham’s full command in the early ‘70s, Frederick S. “Fritz” Beebe had a special appreciation for journalism and journalists. A Wall Street lawyer and adviser to the Grahams, he had served on The Post’s board for years and played a key role when The Post bought Newsweek magazine in 1961. As acting CEO, Beebe had the astonishing idea that editorial talent was vital to making money in journalism, and he bestowed corporate stock and options on reporters, writers and editors as well as the business side. His vision made this award possible.

SALLY JACOBSEN FELLOWSHIP

Endowed by family and friends

An experienced Associated Press foreign correspondent in Mexico City and Brussels, Sally Jacobsen was the first woman to serve as the news service's international editor, overseeing coverage of wars, terrorism and a daily stream of history-making events. Her 39-year career took her from a Washington economics correspondent to the pressure-packed job at New York headquarters. A former vice president of the OPC Foundation, she was instrumental in establishing its fellowship program that places scholars in the foreign bureaus of leading media organizations.

RICHARD PYLE SCHOLARSHIP

Endowed by family and friends

Richard Pyle devoted his life to the cause of being a correspondent. His long and accomplished Associated Press career spanned the globe and a half-century of crisis, war, catastrophe and indelible moments in news reporting, from the Cuban missile crisis, the resignation of Richard Nixon to Desert Storm. He will be remembered most for his Vietnam War coverage over five critical years, the last half as chief of the news organization’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Saigon bureau.

RICK DAVIS-DEB AMOS SCHOLARSHIP

Endowed by Deb Amos and friends

Deb Amos, an award-winning correspondent for NPR News, met Rick Davis in Beirut in 1982 and they became a husband-wife team covering the Middle East for decades. Rick, a Middle East correspondent for NBC News, passed away in 2019 and Deb has chosen to endow this award in both their names in support of high-quality Middle East coverage. Deb is a vice president of the Overseas Press Club and the Ferris Professor of Journalism in Residence at Princeton University. She previously reported for ABC's Nightline and PBS's Frontline.

EDITH LEDERER SCHOLARSHIP

Endowed by Edith Lederer and friends

Edith Lederer, who is the Associated Press’ chief correspondent at the United Nations, has worked for the AP for more than five decades on every continent except Antarctica covering wars, famines, nuclear programs, political upheavals and major global issues including the break-up of the Soviet Union. She was AP’s first full-time female correspondent to cover the Vietnam War in 1972-73 and AP’s first female bureau chief overseas based in Lima, Peru in 1975. She has also been based in Israel, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Hong Kong, East Africa, the United Kingdom and Saudi Arabia. She is the winner of five lifetime achievement awards including the OPC’s Fay Gillis Wells Award in 2014.

SEYMOUR AND AUDREY TOPPING SCHOLARSHIP

Sponsored by donations from the Topping and Cone families and friends

This Scholarship recognizes the Toppings’ global legacy as pioneering journalists around the world. They worked together as team on many different, often dangerous assignments in China, Southeast Asia and Europe, including Russia. Top was a foreign correspondent and rose to become Managing Editor of The New York Times, Administrator of the Pulitzer Prizes, President of the International Advisory Board of Tsinghua University’s School of Journalism, and other titles. Audrey is a photojournalist with cover photographs and stories in National Geographic, The New York Times, Newsweek, Life and other major publications. In addition to the news stories that Top and Audrey broke, they authored eleven books and raised five daughters, born in four countries.

ROB URBAN AWARD FOR REPORTING IN CENTRAL & EASTERN EUROPE

Rob Urban was an international business journalist who spent 28 years at Bloomberg News, helping establish the company’s original presence in Eastern Europe and Russia in the 1990s and later managing global coverage of finance and real estate. Rob’s dogged reporting and punchy storytelling from Prague helped Bloomberg win its first Overseas Press Club award for a series on global prime bank guarantee fraud tied to the collapse of the Czech Republic’s Banka Bohemia. He hired, managed and mentored many emerging journalists from his base in Prague and later Moscow and shared his love for a good story as he interviewed oligarchs, presidents and many of the region’s first post-Communist fraudsters.

Sponsored by colleagues and friends