AAJA Meets William Woo Internship Fund Challenge Goal

Sept. 18, 2009

Thank you to all those who contributed to the William Woo Internship Fund and helped AAJA reach its match challenge goal with $5,778.35!

AAJA extends its gratitude to Martha Shirk, the widow of legendary journalist William Woo, for her generous offer to donate up to $5,000 as a matching fund for any contribution towards the William Woo Internship Fund. The fund will go towards student scholarships and internships that help encourage students to enter the field of journalism. This year's recipient of a William Woo Internship Fund grant is Justine Drennan from San Mateo, Calif. She is currently a sophomore at Princeton University.

Thank you also to the following chapters who provided their support towards the challenge: Hawai'i, San Francisco, Atlanta, Los Angeles and Michigan

Make a donation to the William Woo Fund now through any of the following:

Make an online donation and indicate "William Woo Internship Fund" in the blank field under "AAJA National Scholarships & Internships"
Become a sustaining donor to the fund and indicate on the form "William Woo Internship Fund"
Purchase a copy of his book, "Letters from the Editor." All royalties from the book are being donated to AAJA to help support the Internship.

The William Woo Internship Fund began awarding internship grants in 2006. Michael Zhao was a first-year graduate student at the U.C. Berkeley's Graduate School of Journalism and an intern at Forbes magazine. Stuart Woo was a junior attending Brown University and intern at The Providence Journal.

"Bill Woo, who headed The St. Louis Post-Dispatch, was still the only Asian American executive editor of a major daily American newspaper back in 1995 when we started AAJA's Executive Leadership Program. A thoughtful, modest man, he never hesitated to help when we asked for advice or support. He once told me that timing has a lot to do with opportunities that come our way. Opportunities for Asian American journalists have certainly blossomed because he helped to pave the way."
--Dinah Eng, former AAJA National President, Lifetime Achievement Award Winner and founder of the Executive Leadership Program

Former AAJA National president, Jeanne Mariani-Belding, remembers Woo as a mentor and an inspiration: