NYFWA names scholarship winners

The New York Financial Writers’ Association has revealed the winners of its 2020 annual scholarships for aspiring financial journalists.

“We are happy that, despite the COVID-19 pandemic, we are still able to give out scholarships this year and help these students achieve their educational goals,” said Stephen Foley, deputy U.S. news editor for the Financial Times, who chairs the NYFWA scholarship committee. “We had a pool of particularly strong applicants this year and their work was very impressive. We are excited to watch their careers unfold in the future and have no doubt that many of these students will have a real impact on the future of financial journalism.”

This year the NYFWA awarded $15,000 in scholarships of $3,000 each to a group of students from New York City-area schools. The winners of this year’s scholarships are:

Ayse Kelce, CUNY Baruch College, winner of the George Auerbach Scholarship
Orla McCaffrey, Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY, winner of the Clare Reckert Scholarship
Hannah Miller, Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY, winner of the Stan Strachan Scholarship
Marta Orosz, New York University, winner of the Dorothea Brooks Scholarship
Olivia Raimonde, Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY, winner of the Herbert & Charles Koshetz Scholarship

The NYFWA has awarded scholarships every year since 1976, when it gave out its initial scholarship for $500 in honor of Maurice Feldman, a public relations professional beloved by generations of reporters. Scholarships awarded are in honor of longtime NYFWA members who made significant contributions to both the organization and the world of financial journalism. Over the past decade alone, the NYFWA has given out in excess of $300,000 in scholarships to area students.

In addition to the monetary awards, the students also receive a free year of membership in the NYFWA.

Due to COVID-19, this year’s scholarships could not be presented in person. NYFWA will, however, be featuring short videos about each of the winners on the NYFWA website.

Chris Roush

Chris Roush was the dean of the School of Communications at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut. He was previously Walter E. Hussman Sr. Distinguished Professor in business journalism at UNC-Chapel Hill. He is a former business journalist for Bloomberg News, Businessweek, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Tampa Tribune and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. He is the author of the leading business reporting textbook "Show me the Money: Writing Business and Economics Stories for Mass Communication" and "Thinking Things Over," a biography of former Wall Street Journal editor Vermont Royster.