Jeff Nardone’s legacy to MIPA and scholastic journalism will continue through a new scholarship created by the organization in his honor.
MIPA’s board today established the Jeff Nardone Scholarship for the MIPA Summer Journalism Workshop to honor Nardone’s dedication to the organization and scholastic journalism.
Nardone died Sunday after a battle with lymphoma. He was 48.
Nardone was a long-time member of MIPA’s board, serving as MIPA’s president from 1994-1996. For years, he led the organization’s selection of the Student Journalist Staff, an annual honor MIPA bestows on the top graduating student journalists in Michigan. He also was a frequent speaker at MIPA conferences, a frequent judge in the organization’s annual statewide contests and was an instructor at the MIPA Summer Journalism Workshop at Michigan State University, where he taught the sports writing class.
Nardone taught English and journalism at Grosse Pointe South High School, where he advised the award-winning weekly newspaper, The Tower. Nardone’s students won more than 800 individual awards from state and national organizations. The Tower was inducted into MIPA’s Hall of Fame in 2002, as a charter member. To be inducted into the MIPA Hall of Fame, a student media outlet must accumulate nine Spartans in a 10-year span.
During his career, he was recognized numerous times by state and national organizations for his contributions to scholastic journalism. Nardone received the Golden Pen Award, MIPA’s highest honor for an adviser, in 1998 and he was named a Distinguished Adviser by the Dow Jones News Fund in 1999. He received the Gold Key from the Columbia Scholastic Press Association in 2008. In 2011, the National Scholastic Press Association honored Nardone with its highest award for journalism educators, the Pioneer Award.
Those wishing to support this new scholarship may make a donation by credit card online or download our giving form to donate by mail. Make checks payable to MIPA and send to:
Michigan Interscholastic Press Association
MSU School of Journalism
404 Wilson Road, Room 305
East Lansing, MI 48824
