The David Powell Award for Excellence in Public Affairs Reporting is intended to recognize a Daily Texan staffer for outstanding work in reporting on government and public policy.

Austin is the capital of Texas, home of the state’s flagship public university, and has pace-setting municipal and county governments, a wealth of human resources devoted to public policy research, and a prominent role in national affairs.

While the award may recognize enterprise reporting on governmental decisions that directly affect the University community, it also is intended to reward in-depth coverage of off-campus public policy that is pertinent to the Texan’s readers as well as a wider audience. Its purpose is to foster and encourage reporting skills that are essential for an informed citizenry.

The award was created by David Powell, who served as editor of the Daily Texan in 1972-73, earned a master’s degree from the Columbia Journalism School, and began his professional life as a reporter for the Associated Press, in New York and Miami, and as correspondent in charge of the AP’s Tallahassee bureau covering the Florida statehouse.

He later became a practicing lawyer based in Tallahassee and also wrote a book about Cuban exiles that showed how their integration into American life was propelled by federal policy on immigration, naturalization, and refugee assistance.

He is a member of the Daily Texan Hall of Fame.