Needham, MA, June 6, 2016– The third annual Benjamin and Sholom Waife Memorial Scholarship in Scientific Journalism was awarded at Needham, Mass. High School Class Day ceremonies this Spring. The scholarship, created by Waife & Associates, Inc., supports collegiate studies toward a career in writing or journalism about science and medicine. The annual award’s recipient this year is Sydney Kornbleuth, selected by the faculty of Needham High School.

The Scholarship is in memory of Benjamin Waife (1895-1972) and his son Sholom O. Waife, MD (1919-2011). Waife & Associates, Inc. is based in Needham and was founded by Dr. Waife’s son, Ronald S. Waife. Benjamin Waife, writing under the pen name B. Z. Goldberg, was a newspaper editor and columnist for over fifty years for New York and Israeli newspapers. For much of his career he was managing editor of Der Tog, one of the two main Yiddish newspapers in New York City in the 20th century.  He earned one of the first psychology PhD’s from Columbia and wrote two books, in addition to his weekly column which appeared in various newspapers until his death.

Dr. Sholom Waife continued the family writing heritage by combining it with his medical profession. He started one of the first in-service hospital CME Programs, at Philadelphia General Hospital, developed an award-winning series of textbooks while at Eli Lilly & Co. which were distributed to all US medical school graduates, wrote a column for the Physicians Bulletin, co-founded the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, and was an early national officer of the American Medical Writers Association (AMWA).

Both Benjamin and Sholom Waife dedicated their professional lives to clarity in writing and using the written word to make complex subjects easier to comprehend. The Scholarship is intended to further these principles, in these times when science and medicine are increasingly affecting our daily lives, yet are moving further from common understanding.

Waife & Associates, Inc. awards this scholarship annually. The company provides management consulting services to biopharma organizations conducting clinical research.