John Thompson Scholarship Winner

This year's John Thompson Memorial Scholarship is awarded to Karl Davitt. Karl is pursuing a Masters Degree in Marketing at DCU Business School. At undergraduate level, Karl studied a BSc in Marketing, Innovation and Technology at DCU Business School, where he graduated top of his class. Karl is particularly interested in digital TV and the relevance of on-line media in this space. Congratulations Karl!

The DCU Business School is honoured to host the John Thompson Marketing & Media Scholarship bursary. This prestigious scholarship fund, which has support eight scholars at DCU to date, was established by the friends and family of John Thompson to honour the memory of a giant of the Irish Newspaper business.

John Thompson's career spanned almost 30 years in the Newspaper and Magazine business. John was instrumental in launch and commercial development of some of Ireland's most loved, successful and enduring publications. John was Launch Managing Director of U Magazine, Sunday World, The Irish Daily Star, The Irish Mail on Sunday and The Irish Daily Mail. John's greatest achievement has been the unrivalled success in recent newspaper history of The Irish Daily Star which despite only launching in 1988 has become an Irish media industry bellwether.

John was a publisher at heart understanding the delicate balance that needs to be struck between the Editorial and Commercial. He approached each of his newspaper ventures with courage, resilience and passion. He was gifted with a keen eye for anticipating changing attitudes and tastes and each of these products have consistently evolved to give consumers more of what they really want. His aptitude for mentoring younger executives is evident in the fact that former colleagues now occupy Chief Executive roles at the Sunday World, The Irish Daily Star and Associated Newspapers Ireland.

The John Thompson Marketing and Media Scholarship sets out to provide graduates with a combined marketing and communications knowledge bank. At a time where the value of content is under scrutiny and technology is unravelling the economics of publishing, the programme is of its time. 

For further information on how to apply for this scholarship, please see our DCUBS Scholarship page.