Awarding fellowships to journalists to pursue independent projects of significant interest and skepticism that will benefit the public.

Wayne Biddle, a freelance writer, reported on defense spending from World War I onwards during his fellowship year. He won a Pulitzer Prize for his New York Times reporting on the “Star Wars” anti-missile project. He has written six nonfiction books – on Wernher von Braun, field guides to radiation and germs, a history of the American aerospace industry and an examination of scientific terms. He has written extensively for major magazines and taught writing seminars at the Johns Hopkins University until his retirement in 2019.