NATAS Expands National Scholarship Program

The Foundation of The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences this year expands its college scholarship program with a new award recognizing Hispanic or Latino students aspiring to careers in television.

The minimum six-year commitment to the $10,000 annual scholarship honors the industry contributions of renowned media executive Randy Falco, currently the President and Chief Executive Officer of Univision Communications Inc. (UCI).

"Starting with his branding of NBC as the 'network of the Olympics,' leading the initiative for the NBC-Universal merger, and now as he continues to transform Univision from a niche broadcast network serving all aspects of the Hispanic community as well as multicultural and millennials, Randy Falco's done it all," said Chuck Dages, Chairman, NATAS. "This scholarship seeks to recognize his trailblazing career by advancing the future career of a young visionary."

"The key to increasing diversity in our industry is access - something that Univision has worked on for close to 60 years. That is why I could not be prouder of this scholarship program to make sure that students have access to financial resources that will help them succeed," said Randy Falco, president and CEO, UCI. "I want to thank everyone at NATAS for helping me achieve my mission of increasing diversity by creating more opportunities for future leaders in our industry."
This new scholarship adds to our already distinguished national scholarships awarded to outstanding high school seniors planning to pursue television-related baccalaureate degrees, and now include:

***The Randy Falco Scholarship ($10,000) - Awarded to a Hispanic or Latino student pursuing a career in any aspect of the television industry.

***The Jim McKay Memorial Scholarship ($10,000) - Awarded to a student pursuing a career in sports television.

***The Mike Wallace Memorial Scholarship ($10,000) - Awarded to a student pursuing a career in television journalism.

***The NATAS Trustees' Scholarship ($10,000) - Awarded to a student pursuing a career in any aspect of the television industry.

This is the fourth year of the Mike Wallace Memorial Scholarship, funded by a five-year grant from CBS News in honor of longtime correspondent Mike Wallace (1918-2012) and presented each year at the News & Documentary Emmy Awards. The Jim McKay Memorial Scholarship, now in its seventh year, honors sportscaster Jim McKay (1921-2008) and was established in 2009 by the HBO, CBS, NBC, ABC and FOX networks. It is presented at the Sports Emmy Awards each May.

Applications for national scholarships are due by 5 pm EST on Monday, March 21, 2016 via the online forms at http://emmyonline.org/scholarship. NATAS Trustees and officials with the National Scholarship Committee will review applications and creative works along with participation from UCI on the Randy Falco Scholarship. Final selections for all scholarships will be made in late April.

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