Murdoch Donates to Support Student Journalists at Stony Brook

News Corporation CEO Rupert Murdoch made headlines in Stony Brook on Tuesday, announcing a $50,000 donation to the Marie Colvin Center for International Reporting at Stony Brook University.

The center, which was announced in May of 2012, aims to train the next generation of international reporters; its programming formally kicked off in February of this year with a talk by foreign correspondent Christiane Amanpour. Before Colvin's death in February of 2012, she worked for nearly two decades as a foreign correspondent for The Sunday Times of London – now owned by Murdoch's News Corporation – covering stories in places such as Sri Lanka, Chechnya, and Syria.

"Marie was an outstanding foreign correspondent who risked her life to tell Sunday Times readers what was really going on in war zones across the globe,” Murdoch said in a statement. “She stood in the finest tradition of war reporters and News Corp.’s donation will help train the next generation so they too can bear witness.”

Howard Schneider, dean of Stony Brook's School of Journalism, said in a statement that Murdoch's gift is "particularly meaningful."

“We greatly appreciate the support and the vote of confidence in our mission,” he said.

Cathleen Colvin, Marie Colvin's sister, called Murdoch's gift "a significant step toward establishing a lasting legacy to Marie's memory."

"It means a lot to my family that he would continue to remember her in such a meaningful way after her death," she said in a statement.