WHCA Creates New Mark Knoller Scholarship
The White House Correspondents’ Association is very pleased to announce the creation of a new scholarship, in honor of the late White House correspondent Mark Knoller and based at New York University, his alma mater.
“Mark Knoller was, by any measure, a legend of the White House press corps — a walking encyclopedia of presidential history and an invaluable resource to every colleague lucky enough to work alongside him. His generosity with knowledge was as defining as the knowledge itself,” said Weijia Jiang, president of the association.
“The WHCA is proud to partner with Knoller’s alma mater, NYU, to establish a scholarship in his name to support the next generation of journalists.”
The scholarship will be provided each year to a promising journalism student at the school’s Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute, part of the association’s goal of helping the next generation of journalists, many of whom may someday take a seat in the White House press corps.
“We at the Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute are thrilled about our partnership with the WHCA, and very grateful for the opportunities that the Mark Knoller scholarship provides for journalism students at NYU,” said Charles Seife, Professor of Journalism and director of the institute.
“The mentorship and other assistance from the WHCA is invaluable for young reporters trying to find their footing, especially in such turbulent times.”
In addition to a grant of $5,000, the association will provide a mentor for a year from among veterans of the White House press corps. The student also will be invited to a luncheon and program in the spring, and as the WHCA’s guest at its annual dinner the next day.
The partnership with NYU is the latest in a steadily growing commitment to help journalism students around the country.
The WHCA now sponsors scholarships at American University, Arizona State University, Hampton University, Howard University, New York University, Northwestern University, Ohio University, the University of California at Berkeley, the University of Kansas, the University of Maryland, University of Missouri, and University of Tennessee.
It also co-sponsors scholarships with the Asian-American Journalists Association, the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, and the White House Historical Association, as well as Syracuse University.
Knoller is the 5th former White House correspondent honored with a named scholarship.
The others have included Frank Cormier, Deborah Orin, Hugh Sidey and Harry McAlpin.
About Knoller
Knoller was a presence on the White House beat for decades, respected and warmly embraced by colleagues and competitors alike.
After graduating from New York University, Knoller started at WNEW Radio in New York, as an intern, copy boy and weekend reporter. He moved to the Associated Press Radio Network in 1975, then to CBS News in 1988 as an assignment editor in the Washington bureau. Soon after, he started covering the White House, for CBS Radio.
He covered presidents George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obma, and Donald Trump, at the White House and on trips around the world.
In 1996, he was the co-winner of the WHCA’s award for reporting under deadline pressure for his breaking news coverage of an intruder at the White House the year before. The judges cited “an outstanding job of writing and broadcasting multiple breaking stories over a 12-hour timespan.”
In a bit of serendipity, the judges honored two winners in the broadcast category, Knoller and Peter Maer for his coverage of President Clinton at the funeral of the Israeli Prime Minister. Maer at the time reported for Mutual/NBC Radio; he later moved to CBS and covered the White House with Knoller.
Knoller also was known for something unique in the White House press core: a meticulous record of presidential activities that he would readily share with competitors.
He started in 1996 when he realized there was no easy way to find out how many times Clinton had visited a state, something he wanted for a story.
Soon, he was recording every public thing a president did, from speeches and news conferences to travel stops to rounds of golf.
In 2010, the WHCA gave him the coveted Aldo Beckman Award for Overall Excellence in White House Coverage, noting his presidential records as a public service. Washingtonian magazine later noted that “reporters, presidential staffers, and even press secretaries” came to him for information about presidents’ activities.
He left CBS in 2020.
He died in 2025.
CLICK HERE TO CONTRIBUTE TO THE WHCA IN SUPPORT OF SCHOLARSHIPS
About the WHCA
Founded in 1914, the White House Correspondents’ Association exists to ensure robust news coverage of the president and the presidency, and to promote excellence in journalism and journalism education. Each day, we work to ensure that the men and women who cover the White House have the ability to seek answers from powerful officials, up to and including the President. We also support awards for some of the best political reporting of the past year, and scholarships for young reporters who carry our hopes for vibrant journalism in the years to come. Our association comprises hundreds of members from the worlds of print, television, radio and online journalism. Their work, for outlets based in the United States and overseas, reaches a global audience.
About NYU Journalism
The Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute is devoted to giving students the opportunity to do compelling work that informs and engages the societies in which we live. As a part of the Faculty of Arts & Science at New York University, the Institute is situated within a culture of liberal arts, and has the benefit of a distinguished faculty and location in the media capital of the world.
For more about the WHCA, contact Executive Director Steve Thomma at director@whca.press