Massey College journalism fellowship named and underwritten in honour of Val Ross

Nice to see that a Canadian Journalism Fellowship is being named in honour of Val Ross, according to a story in the Globe and Mail. Ross was a former editor and staff writer at Maclean's and later a chronicler of the Canadian magazine scene as arts and culture reporter for the Globe and Mail.

The fellowships -- successors to the Southam Fellow program, one of which Ross was in 1997-98 -- are housed at Massey College in the University of Toronto. They underwrite the salary and expenses of journalists who attend classes and, usually, work on a research project for 8 months at the U of T.

Two of Ross's friends and neighbours in Toronto, Tom Kierans, the chair of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council board and his wife, journalist Mary Janigan are backing the annual fellowship for a term of five years.Its full name is the Kierans-Janigan Fellowship in Honour of Val Ross.

Ross was a published author and a tenacious reporter who had a particular interest in the inner workings of the Canadian magazine industry. She died too young at the age of 57 in 2008.