Each year, outstanding members of the SOJC faculty are awarded the Dave and Nancy Petrone Fellowship for research or teaching that advances communication in the public interest. Each Petrone Fellow is awarded $5,000.

Steeves' award is for collaborative research in Ghana, for which she conducted field work this summer with SOJC PhD candidate and Ghanaian Janet Kwami. She will continue the fieldwork in winter 2010. The two plan to conduct a case study of the One Laptop per Child (OLPC) Project in Ghana.

Steeves has conducted a study abroad program for UO students in Ghana during the past nine summers, called Media in Ghana. Kwami, one of last year's Lokey Scholarship award winners, is originally from Ghana.

Maier's award is for a pilot project comparing the press in Seattle and Minneapolis to news websites' coverage of the same communities. For the project, Maier will draw on methodology used by the Project for Excellence in Journalism.

“I was delighted,” says Maier of winning the award. “It gives me the opportunity to pursue research I couldn't do without support.”

“This is the first Petrone that I've received,” says Steeves. “I feel very excited and honored to be selected. As I said in my note to the Petrones, it is almost impossible to do any research while I'm directing my annual study abroad program in Ghana. I'm thrilled to have an opportunity to go in winter without the demands and responsibilities of a dozen or more students. This past summer I made the necessary contacts and identified a research assistant, so I anticipate accomplishing a great deal quickly when I return for two or three weeks in winter.”

“In the meantime,” she continues, “Janet Kwami and I will be doing some preparatory work and a related study on the media and web discourse of the OLPC project.”

The Petrones established the fellowship in 2001 to attract and retain outstanding faculty members. The award has allowed faculty members more freedom to pursue new avenues in teaching and research.

Dave Petrone received a BS in Economics in 1966 and an MBA in 1968 from the University of Oregon. He is also a former UO Trustee and former volunteer head for The Oregon Campaign, which raised $255 million for the UO between 1992 and 1998. He received the UO Presidential Medal in 1999 and is chairman of Housing Capital Company in San Mateo, California.