A scholarship program to assist journalism students at Ball State has been endowed by a former newspaper reporter.

The Michael Smith Journalism Scholarship has been created by a $25,000 gift from the donor, who earned his bachelor's degree from Ball State and is a member of the university's Journalism Hall of Fame. The renewable scholarship will assist students majoring in journalism.

Smith joined Northwestern University in 1991 after spending more than 20 years as a journalist and editor. He has been a beat reporter, copy editor and magazine editor at the Fort Wayne News-Sentinel; managing editor of the Boca Raton News; and sports editor, executive news editor and features editor for the Detroit Free Press. For two years, while assigned to the corporate staff of Knight Ridder Inc., he served as an internal editorial consultant and change agent. In 1982, he shared in the Pulitzer Prize for local reporting.

At Northwestern, Smith teaches classes in journalism, ethics, new product development, teamwork, strategy and leadership in the Advanced Executive Program and Management Development Program for the newspaper industry. He also teaches content strategies and leadership in the National Association of Broadcaster's Executive Development Seminar and leadership and strategy in the Maynard Media Academy program for first-time minority media managers.

(Note to editors: For more information, contact Amy Thomas, associate vice president for endowment and planned gift stewardship for the Ball State Foundation, at (765) 285-7068.)