DURHAM, NC (September 26, 2013) – Seven college students have been selected by the National Press Photographers Foundation to each receive $2,000 scholarships, professor emeritus Dr. James W. Brown of Indiana University announced. Brown is the NPPF scholarship chair.
Sara Lewkowicz is the winner of the Kit C. King Scholarship, which is exclusively for photojournalists who are pursuing an advanced degree. Dijana Muminovic is the winner of the Bob Baxter Scholarship, which may be awarded to either a graduate or undergraduate student. Both are graduate students at Ohio University.
Jon Kasbe, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, is the winner of the Bob East Scholarship.
Yue Wu, Iowa State University, is the winner of the Jimi Lott Scholarship.
Justin Haugesag, St. Cloud State University, is the winner of the NPPF TV News Scholarship.
Susannah Kay is the winner of the Reid Blackburn Scholarship, and Steven Turville is the winner of the NPPF Still & Multimedia Scholarship. Both are students at Ohio University.
The Bob East, Reid Blackburn, Bob Baxter, Kit C. King, and Jimi Lott Scholarships are endowed by donations from friends, family, and news organizations, while the Foundation funds the Still & Multimedia Scholarship and the TV News Scholarship.
The Foundation’s scholarships are named after people who played an important role in visual journalism or NPPA’s history, and their memories live on but supporting undergraduate and graduate students’ educational goals.
Bob East was a colorful and widely known veteran photographer for the Miami Herald who died in 1985 after more than 45 years in the profession. He was NPPA’s national secretary, and he mentored many interns.
Reid Blackburn was only 27 when he died on assignment while covering the eruption of Mt. St. Helens. The scholarship was established in his memory by his newspaper, The Columbian of Vancouver, WA.
Bob Baxter was a New Jersey photographer who was paralyzed in an auto accident, but he continued to pursue photojournalism education and established the scholarship for undergraduate and graduate students before his death.
Kit C. King was chief photographer for The Spokesman Review and Chronicle. A compassionate photographer who cared about the people he covered, gritty documentary photojournalism was his trademark. He died in a Snake River fishing accident in 1991.
Jimi Lott was a Seattle Times staff photographer for more than 20 years. Known for his keen eye, compassion, and boundless energy, his work focused on the less fortunate in the Seattle community, including the homeless and those with mental illness. He died in 2005 at age 52.
The NPPF Booster Club, made up of Life NPPA members, has provided significant funding over the years.
Please consider making tax-deductible contributions to the Foundation’s scholarship program.
More information is available on the Foundation’s Web site at https://nppf.org.