Remembering Tom Sparks

We want to remember our late reporter Tom Sparks. His family and friends have set up a scholarship fund at USC’s Annenberg School of Communication to help graduate students in broadcast journalism achieve their dreams.

The scholarship is awarded to students who share Tom’s love of life, commitment to the field that Tom held so dear and who display a type of Tom’s eclectic personality that we had the privilege to experience first hand.

The awards are given out to each student annually and the scholarship has grown year upon year. Beneficiaries of the award have gone on to work at some very exciting organizations including The Economist and HBO. Below you can see how the award amount has grown each year:

FY12: $5,000
FY13: $5,000
FY14: $6,500
FY15: $6,500
FY16: $6,000
FY17: $6,500
FY18: $7,000
FY19: $6,500

The book value of the scholarship fund has gone up a bit from the first year which is a result of Tom’s very generous friends and family. As more contributions are received, the earnings available for awarding each year increase, allowing for more awards, or one larger award.

To Donate visit, https://giveto.usc.edu/
In order to contribute to the fund online, check the box “please direct my gift to a specific school or program.” That will expend the list of choices. At the end of that list of choices, select “Search all schools and funds.” Type in part of the fund name in the text box, Tom or Sparks, that will bring up the fund.

We hope that this scholarship will allow Tom’s legacy at USC to live on and inspire other students to live life to the fullest.