WASHINGTON - The National Federation of Municipal Analysts has announced the first winners of its Peter Fugiel Scholarships to students Eric Reese and Scarlett Swerdlow.
The scholarship was established earlier this year in memory of Dr. Peter Fugiel, a past chair of NFMA who developed the educational course, The Introduction to Municipal Bond Credit Analysis.
It is to be awarded annually and will provide recipients with stipends to cover the registration fees and travel costs associated with attending this course, which is held each fall in Philadelphia. The scholarship also includes a one-year student membership to the NFMA.
"The NFMA established a student membership in 2013," said Susan Dushock, NFMA chair this year. "This scholarship will serve to underscore its commitment to encouraging students in applicable graduate programs to consider a career in municipal research."
The NFMA said it received applications from so many outstanding candidates this year, it decided to award two scholarships and to acknowledge five other students as honorable mentions.
Reese is a Master of Public Administration candidate at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His studies have focused on pubic financial management and budgeting. He was an intern in the budget office at Durham County and, prior to his graduate studies, he worked at the District of Columbia Public Education Fund.
Swerdlow is pursuing a Master of Public Policy at the University of Chicago's Harris School of Public Policy and is expected to graduate in June of next year. She also expects to receive a certificate in municipal finance. Swerdlow was a summer associate at Standard & Poor's in Chicago. Before her graduate studies, she worked in public policy.
Receiving Honorable Mentions were: Ayman Bari and Daniel Hughes, both at the University of Chicago; Matthew Garvey at Northeastern University; Carly Minster at the University of Minnesota and Qin Zhang, at New York University.
Established in 1983, the NFMA has nearly 1,400 members, most of whom are research analysts with mutual funds, broker-dealers, rating agencies, financial advisory firms, bond insurers who evaluate credit and other associated risks in the muni market.
