The Society of American Business Editors and Writers has established the David J. Morrow Business Journalism Scholarship Fund in the University of South Carolina’s School of Journalism and Mass Communications in memory of SABEW board member and alumnus, David J. Morrow.
Morrow died earlier this year from pancreatic cancer. The scholarship will support undergraduate or graduate students interested in business and financial journalism.
Rob Reuteman, SABEW president, said Morrow’s colleagues and friends created the memorial fund, which reached more than $100,000 in a matter of months. SABEW agreed to direct the majority of the fund, $90,000 over the next 10 years, to Morrow’s alma mater.
USC’s journalism program first attracted SABEW’s attention in 2009 when news of the school’s newly created Baldwin Business Journalism Endowment Fund received national coverage. Donor and alumnus Ken Baldwin and alumnus Fred Monk championed potential synergies between SABEW, the Baldwin Fund and the school.
“Through Ken and Fred, we already had an awareness of USC,” Reuteman explained. “When Dave passed away and we learned he was a USC alumnus, the pieces just seemed to fit together so well. We arrived at the conclusion that we would do something really significant in Dave’s memory by establishing something at his university. We just felt this was the right thing to do.”
SABEW received fund requests from larger journalism schools with well-defined business journalism programs. However, Reuteman explained SABEW felt the annual scholarship allocation would have a more significant impact for USC students. “There are not that many business journalism focuses throughout the country. I feel that will change because it is highly employable and relevant. New graduates sometimes seem scared of it.”
“This is further impetus for us to develop our program, connect with the university’s highly ranked Darla Moore School of Business, and add value to a state that needs to grow its economic and business base,” said Charles Bierbauer, dean of the College of Mass Communications and Information Studies. “We are honored that SABEW thinks this well of us. It probably has a lot to do with how highly Dave Morrow was respected.”
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