The Junior Statesmen Foundation is excited to announce the launch of The Gene A. Burd Symposium on Los Angeles Media and Politics for the summer of 2008.

 

Dr. Gene Burd, a professor at the University of Texas, in the Department of Journalism, has signed an unprecedented $500,000 endowment agreement with The Junior Statesmen Foundation. Dr. Burd surprised everyone when he announced his contribution in May at the Texas Symposium, to overwhelming applause from the students.

Dr. Burd grew up in Los Angeles and attended the 1948 Montezuma Summer School with notable Junior Statesmen Foundation Trustees Hon. Edwin Meese and Jack Teeters. Although he has lived in Austin, Texas for over thirty years, he has fond memories of his time in the Junior State program in Southern California.

Dr. Burd’s concentration is in urban journalism, the media and urban politics. His generous endowment will allow The Junior Statesmen Foundation to give several urban scholarships to the Los Angeles Symposium every year. In his own words he wants his donation “to help JSA assure the continued democratic and open exchange and challenge of opinions and viewpoints in a dialogue we desperately need today and in the future.”

For more information about The Gene A. Burd Symposium on Los Angeles Media and Politics, which will be held August 10 – 14 at UCLA, please visit our Summer Programs webpage.