The Howard Simons Fellowship

A Great Journalism Partnership:
The Washington Post, Maryland and You

The Washington Post funds a graduate fellowship for a minority student to attend the Philip Merrill College of Journalism’s Public Affairs Reporting master’s program at the University of Maryland. Successful applicants show a strong commitment to a career in journalism and the ability to perform at the graduate level.

The award is named for the late Howard Simons, who was managing editor of The Post before becoming curator of Harvard University’s Nieman journalism fellowships. Simons received the first phone call in The Post newsroom with word of the Watergate break-in and pressed relentlessly on the paper's coverage of the story. He started at The Post as a science reporter but soon became an editor, nurturing talented young reporters such as Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein.

The Simons Fellowship at Maryland covers all tuition and provides a stipend of approximately $12,000 for the 12-month program. The Simons Fellow takes courses in advanced reporting and newswriting, feature writing, computer-assisted reporting, media ethics and law and public affairs reporting with renowned journalism professors, including:

• Gene Roberts, the former executive editor of The Philadelphia Inquirer, who won the Pulitzer Prize in 2007 for his book, "The Race Beat."
• Haynes Johnson, the Pulitzer-winning political journalist and author.
• Deborah Nelson, a Pulitzer winner and recent Washington investigative editor for The Los Angeles Times, who directs the College's Carnegie Seminar.
• Jon Franklin, the two-time Pulitzer-winning science and feature writer.
• Ira Chinoy, the two-time Pulitzer-winning computer-assisted reporting expert from The Washington Post.

In addition to the coursework, the Simons Fellow spends the spring semester in the College’s Capital News Service reporting bureau in Washington or Annapolis.

Current and past Howard Simons Fellows include:

• Taya Flores, the 2006-2007 Simons Fellow, staff writer at the Lafayette, Ind., Journal and Courier
• Robert Salonga (2004-2005), staff writer at The Salinas Californian
• Elysa Batista (2003-2004), staff reporter, the Naples (Fla.) Daily News
• Marisa Navarro, staff writer, The Ventura County (Calif.) Star, and Allen Powell, staff writer, The (New Orleans) Times-Picayune (2002-2003)
• Krissah Williams (2001-2002), staff writer, The Washington Post
• Megan Scott (2000-2001), staff writer, The Associated Press' asap service, New York
• Lolly Bowean (1999-2000), staff writer, The Chicago Tribune
• Natalie Hopkinson (1998-1999), former staff writer, The Washington Post, now associate editor, theroot.com, after earning her doctoral degree at the College.

To be considered for the Simons Fellowship, candidates must:

• Complete a full application to the Maryland journalism master’s program. Applications are available at the University’s web site.
• Complete the Washington Post's application for the Howard Simons Fellowship
• Submit a resume and sample journalistic work products.
• Write a letter stating your interest in the fellowship and a newspaper career.
• Be a member of a minority group.

For more information about the Philip Merrill College of Journalism, go to: http://www.journalism.umd.edu

For more information about the Simons Fellowship at Maryland, contact Assistant Dean Steve Crane.