Five University of Nebraska-Lincoln College of Journalism and Mass Communications students will receive scholarships from the Omaha Press Club for the 2021-2022 academic year.
Kirsten Wandrey will receive the Paul N. Williams Scholarship. The scholarship recognizes Paul N. Williams, a dedicated journalist. His 27 years as a newspaperman culminated in a share of the first Pulitzer Prize ever awarded to a weekly newspaper, Omaha’s Sun Newspapers. Wandrey is a junior journalism major from Omaha, Nebraska.
Abby Ostdiek will receive the John Davis Scholarship. In 1974, the Davis scholarship was established in honor of First National Bank executive John F. Davis, who helped establish the Omaha Press Club atop the bank building at 16th and Dodge Streets. Ostdiek is a senior advertising and public relations major from Aurora, Nebraska.
Emma Krab will receive the Stan Bond Scholarship. Stan Bond was KETV’s first field engineer, pioneering live broadcasting from remote story locations for the newsroom in which he was a full newsgathering participant. A past president of the Omaha Press Club and trustee of the Omaha Press Club Foundation, Bond received the Distinguished Club Member Award in 2001. Krab is a junior journalism and English double major from Ogallala, Nebraska.
Alyssa Johnson will receive the Panko-Robert’s/Presidents Memorial Scholarship. The oldest Omaha Press Club Scholarship was first presented in 1957 in memory of Omaha World-Herald reporter Walter Panko. More than a decade later, the name of KMTV News Director Jim Roberts was added, and the award now honors all past presidents of the Omaha Press Club and Omaha Press Club Foundation. Johnson is a junior advertising and public relations and journalism double major from Lincoln, Nebraska.
Chris Stoehr will receive the Senator Edward Zorinsky Memorial Scholarship for Graduate Study. The family of Senator Edward Zorinsky established this scholarship in memory of the late U.S. senator and former mayor of Omaha, who was a great friend of the Omaha Press Club. Stoehr is pursuing a Master of Arts in journalism and mass communications with a specialization in professional journalism.
For more than half a century, the Omaha Press Club and Omaha Press Club Foundation have awarded journalism scholarships to the most deserving students at Creighton University, the University of Nebraska at Omaha and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. The faculty of their respective institutions select recipients. This year’s Omaha Press Club Scholarship Selection Committee members were Professor Maria Marron, Assistant Professor Chris Graves and Assistant Professor of Practice Monique Farmer.
