June 17, 2010 (New York, NY) – The Eric Breindel Foundation today announced that the fifth annual Eric Breindel Award for Excellence in Journalism will be given to John-Clark Levin, a student at Claremont McKenna College. Mr. Levin will receive his award at a ceremony at the News Corporation headquarters in New York City on July 8, 2010.

The Foundation presents a $10,000 award to a college or university student whose work best reflects the spirit that animated the writings of Eric Breindel: Love of country and its democratic institutions, as well as the act of bearing witness to the evils of totalitarianism.

John-Clark Levin is a native of Ojai, California, and recently completed his sophomore year at Claremont McKenna College, majoring in Philosophy, Politics and Economics and Linguistics. After founding and editing a student magazine at Villanova Preparatory School in high school, he joined the staff of the Claremont Independent, the journal of conservative and libertarian political thought at the Claremont Colleges, where he rose to managing editor in his freshman year. Mr. Levin was named Editor-in-Chief at the start of his sophomore year. In addition to his work on the Claremont Independent, he also conducts research for the Salvatori Center for the Study of Individual Freedom in the Modern World.

The pieces that earned Mr. Levin the Collegiate Breindel Award are titled “The Lessons of 1939” and “An Open Mind.”

Past Collegiate Breindel Award recipients include: Carl Kelm of Stanford University, Elise Viebeck, currently a fellow at Roll Call in Washington, Matt Mireles of Columbia University, who is developing an interactive video transcription service, and John Wilson, currently an associate editor at the New York Post editorial page, where he interned after winning the Award.

About Eric Breindel

In 1977, Eric Breindel graduated magna cum laude from Harvard College, where he was editorial chairman of the Harvard Crimson and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. After receiving his A.B. from Harvard, Eric studied politics at the London School of Economics. He went to Harvard Law School where he received his J.D. in 1982.

Eric became the Editorial Page Editor of the New York Post in 1986 and was appointed Senior Vice President of News Corporation in 1997. His nationally syndicated column appeared weekly in the Post and he was the moderator of a weekly national public affairs television program, Fox News Watch, on the Fox News Channel. A book of his columns, titled A Passion for Truth: The Selected Writings of Eric Breindel, was published after his death in 1998.

The Breindel Foundation, a 501c-3 tax-exempt entity, remains open to those who wish to honor Eric’s memory with a donation. Those interested should write to: Eric Breindel Memorial Foundation, 1211 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10036. For information regarding next year’s submissions, please go to www.ericbreindel.org or call Anna Dinces at 212-843-9253.

June 7, 2010 (New York, NY) – The Eric Breindel Foundation announced today that Mona Charen, nationally syndicated columnist, best-selling author and political analyst, is the winner of the 12th Annual Eric Breindel Award for Excellence in Journalism.

Ms. Charen’s syndicated column was launched in 1987 and is featured in more than 200 newspapers and websites including the Boston Globe, National Review Online, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Real Clear Politics, the Atlanta Journal and Constitution, and the Washington Examiner. She spent 6 years as a regular commentator on CNN’s Capital Gang and Capital Gang Sunday, and has served as a judge of the Pulitzer Prizes.

Ms. Charen began her career at National Review magazine where she served as editorial assistant. In 1984, Ms. Charen joined the White House staff, serving first as Nancy Reagan’s speechwriter and later as Associate Director of the Office of Public Liaison. Later in her White House career, she worked in the Public Affairs office helping to craft the President’s overall communications strategy. In 1986, Ms. Charen left the White House to join the presidential quest of then-Congressman Jack Kemp as a speechwriter.

She is the author of two bestsellers: Useful Idiots: How Liberals Got it Wrong in the Cold War and Still Blame America First (2003), and Do-Gooders: How Liberals Harm Those They Claim to Help — and the Rest of Us (2005). A graduate of Barnard College, Columbia University, Charen also holds a degree in law from George Washington University.

The $20,000 award is presented annually, in memory of the New York Post editor and columnist, to the winner whose work best reflects the spirit that animated the writings of Eric Breindel: Love of country and its democratic institutions, as well as the act of bearing witness to the evils of totalitarianism.