News and Progress

MU alumna gives opportunity for strategic communication students through $100,000 scholarship

Jan. 15, 2008

COLUMBIA, Mo. – The experience of a college education is invaluable in many respects; Louise Black Jadel, a 1946 graduate of the University of Missouri, knows this firsthand.  Throughout her professional career, she was able to draw upon countless skills she learned in the classroom. To help give others the same opportunity, she recently gave $100,000 to create an endowment scholarship for future students studying strategic communication at MU.     

         “This generous gift will help worthy strategic communication students earn their degrees,” said Jim Sterling, chair of strategic communication. “We are always pleased when our J-School alumni share their successes and remember where they got their start. Hopefully the recipients of this endowed scholarship will have great success, too, and some day will be able to help future students of our school.”

          Jadel was thrilled when she received an invitation last September, to the School of Journalism Centennial celebration taking place this fall. So thrilled, in fact that it motivated her to give back to her alma mater.  After a few phone calls and a trip to Columbia, Mo, she decided to set up a scholarship fund.    

        “When I came to Columbia this past September, I was so impressed by the excitement surrounding the School of Journalism,” Jadel said. “The dean was especially enthusiastic, and I was overwhelmed by the growth of the school and the progress of the new buildings on campus. It was such an inspiration to me when I was a student; I felt that same inspiration, even more so, during my visit.”

         The first award will be given in September 2008 and will go to an out-of-state student with financial need.  Jadel and her husband, Jack, hope that it will give an opportunity to students coming from other states that might not otherwise be able to attend MU.

         “The School of Journalism provided the most stimulating classroom experience I have ever had,” Jadel said. “It was exciting and hands-on every day.  It is a pleasure for me to help students get that same experience today.”

          Jadel graduated with a degree in advertising, which now falls within the strategic communication program in the School of Journalism.  After graduation, she worked in advertising sales for the Cedar Rapids (Iowa) Gazette for one year before leaving work to marry her husband, the late William H. Shaw, BA '47, and start a family.  At the age of 43, Jadel decided to re-enter the professional world, working first for a suburban weekly and then for 14 years at the Chicago Tribune in advertising sales and management. She said she is looking forward to returning to Columbia in September for the School of Journalism's centennial celebration.