AAI Foundation

Foundation

Al-Muammar Scholarship Recipients

Posted on Tuesday May 23, 2006

The Arab American Institute Foundation is pleased to announce the launch of the Al Muammar Scholarships for Journalism, the most generous scholarship program of its kind offered to Arab American students. Beginning in 2006, up to four scholarship grants, valued at $5,000 each, will be awarded to eligible Arab American college students who are majoring in journalism, as well as college seniors who have been accepted to a graduate journalism school.

Information for applicants
Application form (PDF)

2006 Award Recipients

Reem Akkad

Reem Akkad is currently getting her masters degree in international media and communications at Columbia University. She is also a producer for Good Morning America, the weekend addition. Reem began her career at the ABC News Washington Bureau in 2002 upon completing her undergraduate studies at the University of Texas. In her three years at the Washington Bureau, Reem worked as an associate producer for the Sam Donaldson Radio Show, Live in America. She then went on to become an associate producer for World News Tonight. As associate producer she covered the 2004 Presidential Campaign, the White House and Capitol Hill. With a degree from Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs, Reem hopes to augment her professional experience with deeper knowledge on international media and the Middle East.

Aya Batrawy

Aya Batrawy is currently the Washington correspondent for Kuwait News Agency, an Arabic and English news wire service based out of Kuwait. As a correspondent she covers US policy towards the Middle East. She interviews U.S. officials and reports from the White House, Pentagon, State Department, Trade office, Treasury Department, Congress and World Bank among others. In addition, she covers official visits by Middle East leaders to Washington. Aya has also worked as a freelance reporter for Egypt’s Business Today magazine and reports on US-Mideast trade issues. As an undergraduate student, she was a reporter for the Tampa, FL NPR affiliate, an intern at Tribune Company’s Washington D.C.bureau and wrote columns for he college newspaper. She was founder and president of the Arab student club at the University of South Florida, where she graduated in 2004 with a bachelor’s in broadcast journalism and a bachelor’s in history. She hopes to begin her master’s degree this fall overseas with an emphasis on Middle East studies and media developments in the region.

Liala Helal

Liala Helal, 20, is a junior at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis/St.Paul, where she’s majoring in print journalism and minoring in teaching English as a second language. Currently, she works as a reporter intern for the Saint Paul Pioneer Press, Minnesota’s second-largest newspaper. She also works as a writing consultant for the University’s Multicultural Center for Academic Excellence. She worked he Minnesota Daily, which was the largest student-run newspaper in the nation for approximately one year, and published stories almost daily, covering beats including higher education, student groups, student life, and international issues. She plans on a future career of covering international and world news and is especially interested in using her knowledge of the Arabic language to accurately cover stories in the Middle East.

Hanady Kader

Hanady Kader is a senior at the University of Washington in Seattle where she is double majoring in Political Science and Near Eastern Languages and Civilization. As a columnist for The Daily of the University of Washington, she writes frequently about political and human rights issues surrounding the Middle East. Her interests include traveling and foreign language news. In the future she hopes to play a role in making Arab journalism more accessible to American audiences.