News Release

Local Angle: Minnetonka, Minn.

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By KELLY OCHS and JIM WALSH
UNC News Services

CHAPEL HILL —Devin Markell of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has landed two prestigious internships – one at Bloomberg News in New York City and another for the U.S. Department of State in France.

Now through Aug. 15, the rising senior is writing and helping to report for Bloomberg’s online news service, working for Bloomberg's Head of News, Alan Mirabella. Funded by the Steamboat Foundation of Greenwich, Conn., the internship provides $12,000 and includes housing at New School University in Manhattan.

This fall, Markell will work at the U.S. Consulate in Marseille, aiding American citizens and helping to produce a newsletter on economic policy.

An economics and French major from Minnetonka, Minn., Markell has a 3.7 grade-point average on a 4-point scale. He scored 1510 out of 1600 on his SAT and has worked for the Princeton Review in Chapel Hill, teaching high school students SAT study techniques. An honors student, he studied abroad in spring 2004 in Montpellier, France, where he taught middle school students subjects from English to math. He honed his conversational skills while living with a host family.

Now he’s learning about competitive news coverage of the economy and financial markets at Bloomberg LP, the global, multimedia financial communications firm founded by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

"The chance to spend the summer in a full-on professional environment is a thrill and an amazing stimulus to my character, work ethic and academic habits," Markell said. "I feel that the deeper and more permanent impact, though, is the humility brought on by this incredibly generous award."

The Steamboat Foundation awarded nine 2005 internships through nine colleges and universities nationwide. All but Carolina are private institutions. The foundation aims to grow its program as it arranges for more placements at leading business, health care and other types of organizations.

Each university is connected to a specific placement. UNC alumnus Peter Grauer arranged to link Carolina with Bloomberg, where he is president and chair. Grauer also chairs the advisory board for UNC’s honors program and Johnston Center for Undergraduate Excellence, through which the internship is awarded.

"The Steamboat scholarship is a remarkably forward-looking investment in the next generation of leaders in the professions and our shared public life," said Dr. James Leloudis, associate dean for honors and director of the Johnston Center.

Andrew Walter and Peer Pederson Jr. of Greenwich founded Steamboat in 2003. They are managing partners of the investment business Blue Orchid Capital LLC. Each year, they give a fixed percentage of the fees earned by Blue Orchid to the foundation, named for Steamboat Road in Greenwich.

"Recognizing that early professional experiences and exposure can shape future career success, our mission is to provide outstanding university students with fully funded opportunities to work side-by-side with influential leaders in a range of high-profile professional fields," said Walter.

Markell said the environment at Carolina has been his inspiration. "I think that the community surrounding this great institution has been a major factor in my success," he said. "I'm proud to give back in any way that I can."

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(Ochs and Walsh, journalism and mass communication majors from Winston-Salem, are a rising senior and a rising junior, respectively, at UNC-Chapel Hill.)

Photo URL: http://www.unc.edu/news/pics/students/markell_devin.JPG

Note: Markell can be reached at (952) 484-5767 or dmarkell@email.unc.edu; Leloudis, at (919) 270-1339, leloudis@email.unc.edu

Steamboat Foundation contact: Tara Olson, (203) 869-5684

News Services contact: L.J. Toler, (919) 962-8589