Top: Andrea Cornejo, Nicole Boliaux, Neeta Satam, Jan Sonnenmair     Bottom: Anna Spelman, Eric Dietrich, Gabriel Scarlett, Dominique Hessert

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Eight 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.

Nicole Boliaux, undergraduate student at Western Kentucky University, is the winner of the Reid Blackburn Scholarship.

Andrea Cornejo, undergraduate student at the University of Florida, is the winner of the Jimi Lott Scholarship.

Eric Dietrich, undergraduate student at The George Washington University, is the winner of the NPPF Still & Multimedia Scholarship.

Dominique Hessert, undergraduate student at Rochester Institute of Technology, is the winner of the NPPF TV News Scholarship.

Neeta Satam, graduate student at University of Missouri, is the winner of the Rich Clarkson Scholarship.

Gabriel Scarlett, undergraduate student at Western Kentucky University, is the winner of the Bob Baxter Scholarship, which may be awarded to either a graduate or undergraduate student.

Jan Sonnenmair, graduate student at Ohio University, is the winner of the Bob East Scholarship, which may be awarded to either a graduate or undergraduate student.

Anna Spelman, graduate student at University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, is the winner of the Kit King Scholarship, which is exclusively for photojournalists who are pursuing an advanced degree.

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 director of photography for the Suburban Publishing Co. in Union, NJ. He was a U.S. Navy veteran who served during World War II. In 1971, a swimming accident left Baxter a paraplegic. He spent the last eleven years of his life in East Orange Veterans Hospital where he became the hospital’s photography instructor and commentator on the in-house radio station. He died in 1982. The scholarship was established in 1979 with Baxter’s own savings along with contributions from his family, friends and professional colleagues.

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 NPPA Life members, has provided significant funding over the years.

Brown asks people to 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.