Cristian Lupsa Awarded Atwater Prize for Writing
Columbia, Mo. (May 2, 2005) — Cristian Lupsa has been awarded this year’s Atwater Prize for in-depth reporting published in the Columbia Missourian and Vox Magazine. The competition recognizes outstanding writing by Missouri School of Journalism students and drew 32 entries this year. Lupsa will receive his master’s degree in journalism in May and plans to stay in the United States for the next year. He says all of his options are open, a scary and exciting prospect for a recent graduate.
“Cristian is one of those students who makes working here such a pleasure,” said Tom Warhover, executive editor of the Missourian. “He is all about learning and little about ego. He pushes himself and others around him to make this work we do better and better.”
A native of Romania, Lupsa received his Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism from the University of Bucharest before beginning his graduate studies at Missouri in August 2003. He said he felt very honored being awarded the prize, which carries a $500 stipend.
“It’s a great feeling to see your work recognized and know you came out on top facing some really tough competition,” Lupsa said.
The Atwater Prize is open to all sequences and was founded in memory of James D. Atwater, dean of the School from 1983-1989 and a professor of magazine and editorial writing. During his lifetime, Atwater published several books and worked at several publications, including Time, The Saturday Evening Post and Reader’s Digest. He died in 1996 of cancer.
The Columbia Missourian is the working newspaper lab for students in news-editorial, design, information graphics and photojournalism. Vox serves the people of Columbia with in-depth reporting and analysis of local issues, interesting feature stories on local subjects, thoughtful or humorous essays and columns by local writers, and a useful guide to area arts and entertainment.
Updated: April 6, 2020