Nieman Fellows Given $100,000 For Foreign Writers

James C. Thomson Jr., curator of Harvard's Nieman Foundation for Journalism, announced yesterday a new $100,000 endowment to support Nieman Fellows from other nations.

The endowment was established in memory of Robert W. Ruhl '03 by his wife.

Thomson said yesterday that the income from the endowment would provide a full fellowship every other year and partially support other fellowships every year.

Since the Nieman Foundation's own funds are restricted to United States citizens, the Ruhl endowment will "at long last" enable Harvard to support Nieman Fellows from abroad "on a long-term basis," Thomson said.

Previously, the Foundation supported fellows from other coutries through funding by governments and other foundations.

Nieman Fellows spend nine months at Harvard, using "any and all of Harvard's facilities in any way they want," Thomson said.

The only restrictions on a Fellow are that he must take a leave of absence from his job and not do any professional writing while he is at Harvard.

The Nieman Fellows are already a "big mix of people," and the new endowment will help the foundation support overseas applicants who can "add special strength to each year's Nieman group," Thomson said.