Rigorous reporting and thoughtful storytelling have the power to shape public understanding.

Dr. Kiran H. Shah and Angela Shah are proud to endow a $1,000 annual scholarship in honor of Pratima Kiran Shah, an immigrant whose life and work embody the countless ways newcomers strengthen the communities they call home.

Pratima is the mother of Angela Shah, a Daily Texan editor and writer in the 1990s.

“The Daily Texan was as important to my collegiate achievements as any class I took toward my degree,” Angela Shah said. “Like many of us, I basically lived in that “basement” and what I learned there prepared me for an amazing career as reporter and writer, sharing stories from all over the world. I’m excited that my family and I can help another Texan staffer carry on this important work.”

Pratima’s journey reflects resilience, creativity and civic engagement, and it is in her name that this award seeks to support the next generation of journalists committed to telling
stories like hers.

This scholarship will support student writing and news coverage that thoughtfully and accurately reflects the broad, positive contributions immigrants bring to Texas and to the United States as a whole: socially, artistically, politically  and economically.

It is grounded in the belief that America is strongest when it welcomes people from many backgrounds, and that our diversity is not a challenge to overcome, but a defining strength to be understood and celebrated.

Through careful reporting, narrative depth and ethical journalism, recipients of this scholarship will help illuminate how immigrants and diverse communities overall shape our shared present and future, and why these stories are essential to a truly informed democracy.