The Fund for American Studies (TFAS) is pleased to announce the 2025-26 Robert Novak Journalism Fellowship recipients. The Fellows are Emma Camp of Reason, Caroline Downey of National Review, Jordan McGillis of City Journal, Timothy Harley Nerozzi of The Washington Examiner, Valerie Pavilonis of The Dispatch, Katelyn Walls Shelton and Maya Sulkin of The Free Press.
These seven journalists will spend one year researching and providing in-depth reporting on their chosen topics surrounding the principles of a free society.
This year’s cohort of outstanding journalists will dive into serious reporting on some of the most pressing issues in American life today. Fellows will explore topics including ideology on college campuses, how “Gen Z” compares to previous generations and America’s religious revival.
Emma Camp, Novak ’25, who is this year’s 2024-25 John Farley Alumni Fund Fellow, said the Robert Novak Fellowship offers crucial support at a pivotal moment in her career as she works to complete her first book.
“The Robert Novak Fellowship will provide crucial support while I work to complete my first book,” said Camp. “Knowing that I have this kind of institutional backing lends so much confidence as I embark on this project.”
The Robert Novak Journalism Fellowship is named after the late Robert D. Novak, renowned columnist, CNN broadcaster, and reporter for The Wall Street Journal and The Associated Press. Since its founding in 1994, the Robert Novak Journalism Fellowship has empowered more than 200 promising young journalists to partake in research and long-form content creation that would not have otherwise been possible for them. Novak Fellows have gone on to become leaders in journalism as Pulitzer Prize winners, leaders of national outlets and authors of bestselling books.
Notable fellows include:
- Tim Carney, Novak ’03, senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) and senior political columnist at the Washington Examiner
- Matthew Continetti, Novak ’08, senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute
- Katherine Mangu-Ward, Novak ’05, Reason editor-in-chief
- and Carine Hajjar, Rago ’22, Novak ’24, Boston Globe editorial board member
Ryan Wolfe, director of the Center for Excellence in Journalism at TFAS, said this year’s Fellows are continuing a proud tradition of thoughtful, courageous reporting on the issues that matter most.
“Our impressive class of Robert Novak Journalism Fellows will spend the next year examining and reporting on some of the most important issues in American life,” said Wolfe. “These Fellows will strengthen the legacy of the more than 200 exceptional journalists who have made a lasting impact through the Novak Fellowship over the past 30 years. We’re excited to see where their courageous reporting leads.”
The 2025-26 Robert Novak Journalism Fellows will be formally announced during the 32nd Annual TFAS Journalism Forum + Awards Dinner on Nov. 11, 2025, at the Metropolitan Club in New York City. TFAS will also present the 2025 Joseph Rago Memorial Fellowship for Excellence in Journalism to Kate Farmer, Cole Murphy and Suzanna Murawski.
For more information about the dinner and sponsorship opportunities, please visit TFAS.org/Jdinner25 or contact Derek Jenks, director of development events and activities, at djenks@TFAS.org.
2025-26 Fellowship Recipients
EMMA CAMP
2025-26 John Farley Alumni Fund Fellowship Fellow
Project: The Age of Loneliness: How Gen Z Became the Risk-Averse Generation
Hometown: Birmingham, Alabama
Emma Camp is an associate editor at Reason, where she covers civil liberties and education. Her essays on culture and politics have previously appeared in The New York Times, The Atlantic, Slate, America and The Free Press. In 2024, she was named one of the “25 Faces of Free Speech,” by the Foundation For Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE). She graduated from the University of Virginia in 2022, where she was a Jefferson Scholar.
CAROLINE DOWNEY
Project: A Cold War Between the Sexes: Explaining the Gen Z Partisan Gap
Hometown: Jupiter, Florida
Caroline Downey is a staff writer and video personality at National Review and senior fellow at the Independent Women’s Forum. She is editor-in-chief of The Conservateur, a digital fashion and lifestyle brand for women. She is a regular guest on FOX News, FOX Business and News Nation, and her work has been featured in the Telegraph, Newsweek, the New York Post, the Washington Examiner and IW Features. Caroline is a 2022 Publius fellow with the Claremont Institute and 2024 Logos fellow with the Manhattan Institute. Previously, she was a portfolio analyst at the Bank of New York Mellon. She holds degrees in economics and political science from Boston College.
JORDAN MCGILLIS
Project: Industrial Policy with American Characteristics
Hometown: San Diego, California
Jordan McGillis is economics editor of City Journal, where he writes about technology, energy and industry. Prior to City Journal, he was a regular contributor to National Review and The American Spectator and held policy roles at the Manhattan Institute and the Institute for Energy Research. His work has been cited by The Economist, The Wall Street Journal, the Congressional Research Service, the Defense Department’s Journal of Indo-Pacific Affairs and the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission. He has been a member of the Council on Foreign Relations since July 2025.
TIMOTHY HARLEY NEROZZI
Project: God’s Country? — Investigating America’s Supposed Religious Revival
Hometown: Centermoreland, Pennsylvania
Timothy Nerozzi is the foreign affairs reporter for the Washington Examiner, where he most enjoys writing about the Catholic Church, the inscrutable mind of Kim Jong Un and royalty from around the world. Born in Northeastern Pennsylvania and a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh, he lived for three years in the rice fields of Niigata, Japan, before moving to Washington D.C. He previously worked at publications including FOX News Digital and the Daily Caller. He occasionally contributes essays and literary pieces to journals such as The Lamp and Modern Age. He insists that any day now he’s gonna finish writing that novel he never works on.
VALERIE PAVILONIS
Project: Freedom of Mind: Pathology and Discovery in the 21st-Century American Mental Health Landscape
Hometown: Chicago, Illinois
Valerie Pavilonis is the ideas editor of The Dispatch, where she commissions and edits long essays and cultural reporting. Previously, she was an assistant at New York Times Opinion and a staff analyst at NewsGuard. She studied literature and art at Yale University and graduated in 2022.
KATELYN WALLS SHELTON
Project: Technically Human: The Ends & Future of Reproductive Biotechnologies
Hometown: Jackson, Tennessee
Katelyn Walls Shelton is a visiting fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center’s Bioethics and American Democracy Program. She is a women’s health policy expert and the former Special Assistant for Global Women’s Health at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, where she assisted in executing the Protecting Life in Global Health Policy (PLGHP) initiative at the United Nations and World Health Organization. A former Paul Ramsey Bioethics Fellow, she writes on women’s reproductive health and the beginning of life. Katelyn received a master’s degree in ethics from Yale Divinity School and a dual bachelor’s degree from Union University. She’s an inaugural opinion contributor to WORLD Magazine and her work and commentary have appeared in a diverse range of outlets, including FOX News, The Gospel Coalition, Washington Examiner, Slate, and Mother Jones, among others. She and her husband, John, live with their four young children near Washington, D.C.
MAYA SULKIN
Project: Campus Breakdown: The Ideological Hijacking of American Universities
Hometown: Seattle, Washington
Maya Sulkin is a reporter for The Free Press. Before that, she was chief of staff at The Free Press, where she began working as an intern during her time at Columbia University.