2006 finalists & past RNA contest winners

Past RNA Contest Winners

The dates listed below reflect the year in which the stories were published. Awards were presented the following year.

Cassels Award First Place Winners
1971 - Michael J. Tighe, Telegraph-Herald, Dubuque, Iowa
1972 - Charles Runyan, Times Herald, Port Huron, Mich.
1973 - Roger Ipswitch, Star-Free Press, Ventura County, Calif.
1974 - Glenn Gilbert, Ann Arbor (Mich.) News
1975 - Gerald Ray, Hutchinson (Kan.) News
1976 - Gene Hammon, Niagara Falls (N.Y.) Gazette
1977 - Ron Lee, Columbia (Mo.) Tribune
1978 - Keith Lawrence, Owensboro (Ky.) Messenger-Inquirer
1979 - Melanie Smith, Decatur (Ala.) Daily
1980 - Julie B. Hairston, Lynchburg (Va.) News and Daily Advance
1981 - Kathie Price, The Mesa (Ariz.) Tribune
1982 - Terry Mattingly, Charlotte (N.C.) News
1983 - Robert Briggs, Columbia (Mo.) Tribune
1984 - Roseanne Rumunni, Easton (Pa.) Express
1985 - Julia Duin, Hollywood (Fla.) Sun-Tattler
1986 - Roseanne Rumunni, Easton (Pa.) Express
1987 - Gayda Hollnagel, La Crosse (Wisc.) Tribune
1988 - Mary Owen, Davis (Calif.) Enterprise
1989 - Tom Price, The Elkhart (Ind.) Truth
1990 - Rex Rutkoski, Valley News Dispatch, Tarentum, Pa.
1991 - Jan Vertefeuille, News Advocate, Lynchburg,Va.
1992 - Rebekah Schreffler, Beaver County Times, Beaver, Pa.
1993 - Lori Arnold, Daily Californian, El Cajon, Calif.
1994 - Nicole Piscopo, Stuart (Fla.) News
1995 - David Frisk, Ledger-Dispatch, Antioch, Calif.
1996 - Kimberly Winston, Tri-Valley Herald, Pleasanton, Calif.
1997 - Steve Nantz, The (Everett, Wash.) Herald
1998 - Robin Galiano, The (Longview, Texas) News-Journal
1999 - Kevin Eckstrom, The Stuart (Port St. Lucie, Fla.) News; and Eric Greenberg, The Jewish Week
2000 - Larry Mitchell, The Chico Enterprise-Record
2001 - Judy Totts, The Medina (Ohio) County Gazette
2002 - Gloria LaBounty, (Attleboro, Mass.) Sun Chronicle
2003 - Gloria LaBounty, (Attleboro, Mass.) Sun Chronicle
2004 - Maya Kremen, Herald News (West Patterson, N.J.)
2005 - Nicole Neroulias, San Mateo (Calif.) County Times
2006 - Larissa Theodore-Dudkiewicz, Beaver County (Pa.) Times

Chandler Award
2002 - Manya Brachear, Columbia University
2003 - Andrew Olsen, Asbury College
2004 - David Crow, The Davidsonian, Davidson College
2005 - Roy Maurer, Indiana University
2006 - Tina Shah, Columbia University

Cornell Award First Place Winners
1995 - Susan Hogan/Albach, Duluth News Tribune and The State
1996 - Rebekah Scott, The Blade
1997 - Lois Collins, Deseret News
1998 - Larry Witham, The Washington Times
1999 - John Railey, Winston-Salem Journal
2000 - Robert Sibley, The Ottawa Citizen
2001 - Carrie A. Moore, The Deseret News (Salt Lake City)
2002 - Eric Gorski, for work done at The Gazette (Colorado Springs)
2003 - Peggy Fletcher Stack, The Salt Lake Tribune
2004 - Jennifer Berry Hawes, The Post and Courier (Charleston, S.C.)
2005 - John Chadwick, The Record (Bergen County, N.J.)
2006 - G. Jeffrey MacDonald, for work done at The Christian Science Monitor

Schachern Award First Place Winners
(Section editors are in parentheses.)

1969 - Houston Chronicle (Janice Law)
1970 - Detroit News (Nancy Manser and Katherine Parrish)
1971 - Kansas City Star (Mary Hobbs); Elyria Chronicle-Telegram (Patricia Geisler)
1972 - Denver Post (Virginia Culver)
1973 - St. Petersburg Times (Lee Kelly)
1974 - Houston Chronicle ((Louis Moore)
1975 - Arizona Republic (Gene Luptak)
1976 - St. Petersburg Times (Lee Kelly)
1977 - Denver Post (Virginia Culver)
1978 - Time (Richard Ostling)
1979 - Arizona Republic (Gene Luptak)
1980 - Providence Journal-Bulletin (Richard Dujardin)
1981 - Newsweek (Kenneth Woodward)
1982 - Time (Richard Ostling)
1983 - St. Petersburg Times (Jeanne Pugh)
1984 - St. Petersburg Times (Jeanne Pugh)
1985 - Arizona Republic (Steven Simpler)
1986 - Grand Rapids Press (Chris Meehan)
1987 - Jacksonville Times-Union (Barbara White); San Jose Mercury-News (Joan Connell)
1988 - Jacksonville Times-Union (Barbara White)
1989 - San Jose Mercury-News (Joan Connell)
1990 - St. Petersburg Times (Tom Billitteri)
1991 - St. Petersburg Times (Tom Billitteri)
1992 - St. Petersburg Times (Tom Billitteri)
1993 - Houston Chronicle (Cecile Holmes and Richard Vara)
1994 - The Dallas Morning News (Sharon Grigsby)
1995 - The Dallas Morning News (Sharon Grigsby)
1996 - Minneapolis Star Tribune (Martha Sawyer Allen)
1997 - Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Ron Feinberg); The Dallas Morning News (Sharon Grigsby)
1998 - The Dallas Morning News (Diane Connolly)
1999 - The Dallas Morning News (Diane Connolly)
2000 - Large: The Dallas Morning News (Diane Connolly)
2000 - Mid-Sized: Grand Rapids Press (Charles Honey)
2000 - Small: Abilene Reporter-News (Loretta Fulton)
2001 - Large: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, (Diane Lore)
2001 - Mid-Sized: The (Salt Lake City) Deseret News, (Carrie A. Moore)
2001 - Small: The Times-News, Twin Falls, Idaho (Denise Turner)
2002 - Large: The Dallas Morning News (Bruce Tomaso)
2002 - Mid-Sized: The Grand Rapids Press (Charles Honey)
2002 - Small: Altoona (Pa.) Mirror (Linda Gracey)
2003 - Large: The Dallas Morning News (Bruce Tomaso)
2003 - Mid-sized: The Salt Lake Tribune (Peg McEntee)
2003 - Small: Santa Barbara News-Press (Al Bonowitz)
2004 - Large: The Houston Chronicle (Richard Vara)
2004 - Small: The Mobile Register
2005 - Large: The Salt Lake Tribune
2005 - Small: The Record (Ontario, Canada)
2006 - Large: The Salt Lake Tribune
2006 - Small: The Mobile Press Register

RNA Radio Award
2001 - Adam Phillips, Voice of America
2002 - Hilliary Wicai, KWMU-FM, St. Louis, Mo.
2003 - Local: Simone Orendain, Northen Public Radio, WNIJ-FM
2003 - National: Barbara Bradley Hagerty, National Public Radio
2006 - Rachael Martin, National Public Radio

Supple Award First Place Winners
1952 - Marilyn Gilbertson Hood, Republican Herald, Winona, Minn.
1953 - Ora Spaid, Louisville Courier
1954 - Wilmar Thorkelson, Minneapolis Star
1955 - Kenneth Dole, Washington Post
1956 - Adon C. Taft, Miami Herald
1957 - Roy Covington, Charlotte Observer
1958 - George Dugan, New York Times
1959 - David Runge, Milwaukee Journal
1960 - George Cornell, Associated Press
1961 - William E. Rowley, Knickerbocker News, Albany, N.Y.
1962 - Stewart M. Doss, Dallas Times Herald
1963 - Lee Dirks, National Observer
1964 - Jo-Ann Price Baehr, New York Herald Tribune
1965 - Dan Thrapp, Los Angeles Times
1966 - Louis Cassels, UPI
1967 - William MacKaye, Washington Post
1968 - Terrence Shea, National Observer
1969 - Robert Wilcox, Miami News
1970 - Ray Ruppert, Seattle Times
1971 - Kenneth Briggs, Newsday
1972 - Charles Wilkinson, The Spectator, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
1973 - Marjorie Hyer, Washington Post
1974 - Lee Kelly, St. Petersburg Times
1975 - James Robison, Chicago Tribune
1976 - Russell Chandler, Los Angeles Times
1977 - Jeanne Pugh, St. Petersburg Times
1978 - William Simbro, Des Moines Register and Tribune
1979 - John Dart, Los Angeles Times
1980 - Richard Ostling, Time, and Lilla Ross, Jacksonville (Fla.) Times-Union
1981 - Joseph Berger, Newsday
1982 - Joseph Berger, Newsday
1983 - Joseph Berger, Newsday
1984 - Russell Chandler, Los Angeles Times
1985 - Richard Dujardin, Providence Journal-Bulletin
1986 - Russell Chandler, Los Angeles Times
1987 - Carol Ostrom, Seattle Times
1988 - Gustav Niebuhr, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
1989 - Michelle Bearden, St. Petersburg Times
1990 - Michelle Bearden, St. Petersburg Times
1991 - Gustav Niebuhr, Wall Street Journal
1992 - David Briggs, Associated Press
1993 - Gustav Niebuhr, Washington Post
1994 - Laurie Goodstein, Washington Post
1995 - Laurie Goodstein, Washington Post
1996 - Carol McGraw, Orange County (Calif.) Register
1997 - Richard Vara, The Houston Chronicle
1998 - David Gibson, (Newark) Star-Ledger
1999 - Mary Beth McCauley, for work done at The Philadelphia Inquirer
2000 - Teresa Wantanabe, Los Angeles Times
2001 - Gary Stern, The Journal News (White Plains, N.Y.)
2002 - Frank Brown, Religion News Service
2003 - Eric Gorski, The Denver Post
2004 - Cathleen Falsani, Chicago Sun-Times
2005 - Douglas Todd, The Vancouver Sun
2006 - Eric Gorski, for work done at The Denver Post

RNA Television Award
2001 - National: Deryl Davis, Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly
2001 - Local: Dan Howell, Fox 61 News, Chattanooga, Tenn
2002 - National: Deryl Davis, Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly
2002 - Local: Amy George, WHNT-TV, Huntsville, Ala.
2003 - Kim Lawton, Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly
2006 - Short form: Maria Arita, CBS II, Dallas/Fort Worth
2006 - Long form: NewsHour with Jim Lehrer

Templeton Reporter of the Year Award First Place Winners
1984 - Russell Chandler, Los Angeles Times
1985 - Richard Ostling, Time
1986 - George Cornell, Associated Press
1987 - Russell Chandler, Los Angeles Times
1988 - Peter Steinfels, New York Times
1989 - Russell Chandler, Los Angeles Times
1990 - Richard Dujardin, Providence Journal-Bulletin
1991 - Gayle White, Atlanta Constitution
1992 - Douglas Todd, Vancouver Sun
1993 - Gustav Niebuhr, Washington Post
1994 - Laurie Goodstein, Washington Post
1995 - Laurie Goodstein, Washington Post
1996 - Deborah Kovach Caldwell, The Dallas Morning News
1997 - Ann Rogers-Melnick, The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
1998 - David O'Reilly, Philadelphia Inquirer
1999 - David Gibson, (Newark) Star-Ledger
2000 - Douglas Todd, Vancouver Sun
2001 - G. Jeffrey MacDonald, writing for Religion News Service
2002 - Gayle White, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
2003 - Sandi Dolbee, The San Diego Union-Tribune
2004 - Tim Townsend, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
2005 - Gary Stern, The Journal News (White Plains, N.Y.)
2006 - Sandi Dolbee, The San Diego Union-Tribune

Templeton Story of the Year Award First Place Winners
2003 - Rukmini Maria Callimachi, The Daily Herald (Ill.), "Passage from India"
2004 - James O'Shea, Chicago Tribune, "Struggle for the Soul of Islam"
2005 - Robert Sibley, The Ottawa Citizen, "The Way of Shikoku"
2006 - David O'Reilly, Philadelphia Inquirer, "Faith In Flux"

Special Citations
1980 - To the Gannett news service (three reporters) for its series on the
fiscal irresponsibility’s among the Pauline Fathers.
1980 - To James A. Haught of the Charleston Gazette for his investigations of the finances of television evangelist.
1973 - To the Sun Newspapers of Omaha, Nebraska, for their reporting on the finances of Boys Town.