In light of the tragic death and heroic work of former New York Times foreign correspondent Anthony Shadid, who died in Syria last week, friends and alumni have set up an endowment in his honor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Jennifer Karlson, the director of development for the College of Letters and Sciences, said that the goal of the fund was to establish a coordinated effort for friends and alumni looking to make tributary gifts.
“The quick evolution of it was that Anthony’s interests were really campus wide – everything from his service on the student newspaper to his involvement in the Arabic and political science departments to his profession in journalism,” Karlson told TheWrap.
The school has already received gifts from friends and UW alumni, including someone from Saudi Arabia who was an avid reader and Wisconsin graduate. To become a permanent fund in Shadid’s name, it must raise at least $10,000 — a figure that Karlson said should be attainable.
Also Read: Anthony Shadid, New York Times Correspondent, Dies in Syria
Shadid’s family will determine the specifics uses of the fund, but Karlson did say the school would seek to establish internships in his name through partnerships with some of the newspapers Shadid worked for, such as the New York Times, Boston Globe and Washington Post. She also suggested other scholarships and awards might be created in his name.
Shadid died of an apparent asthma attack while reporting on the civic unrest in Syria. He won two Pulitzer Prizes for his coverage of the Middle East, and Long Island University just honored him with a posthumous George Polk Award “for extraordinary valor for his work in the Middle East.”