Scripps Howard Foundation
2004 Joan Herrold Wood Liftetime Commitment Award winner

For the past 25 years, the College of Communication has had a constant partner in creating opportunities for excellence in the field of journalism. The Scripps Howard Foundation is an example of how powerful the partnership between a foundation and academe can be.

Through contributions that total more than $4.5 million, the Scripps Howard Foundation has been the catalyst for many significant changes and improvements at Ohio University. The E.W. Scripps School of Journalism, Scripps Hall, the Scripps Survey Research Center, the Scripps Howard Multimedia Laboratory, the Scripps Howard Visiting Professional Chair, the Scripps Howard Teaching Fellows and the Scripps Howard High School Journalism Workshop are all examples of the many projects the Foundation has funded.

However, financial contributions are just a part of the Scripps Howard/Ohio University partnership. Current Foundation President Judith G. Clabes is a member emerita of the College of Communication Dean's Advisory Council. In addition, Clabes, along with several other staff and trustees of the Scripps Howard Foundation, serves as a member of the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism's Advisory Board. Further, Scripps employees maintain a regular presence in journalism and visual communication classes and at student career conferences.

Most recently, the Scripps Howard Foundation has partnered with Ohio Uinversity to administer and present the Farfel Prize at its National Journalism Awards. Although the prize was gifted to the journalism profession through the Ohio University Foundation, the Scripps Howard Foundation's generous support raised the profile of Ohio University journalism program to garner the award. The Foundation's willingness to assist provided a venue in which to present one of the largest cash prizes in the history of journalism.

Founded in 1962, the Foundation established a mission of "recognizing, encouraging, improving, developing, stimulating and supporting the interests and educational and/or literary capabilities of persons and institutions who have made, are making, or are believed capable of making contributions to the field of journalism in the United States."

Today's Scripps Howard Foundation has grown far beyond the original focus. With a corpus of $100 million, the Foundation is the largest corporate foundation in Greater Cincinnati.