WASHINGTON – The National Federation of Municipal Analysts has announced the 2016 winner of its annual Peter Fugiel Scholarship and acknowledged two honorable mentions.
Michael Foley, an MPA candidate at the Cornell Institute for Public Affairs at Cornell University, won the scholarship in its third year of existence. Foley has worked as an assistant policy analyst for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey's aviation department and as an intern at Moody's Investors Service. He received his undergraduate degree from George Mason University.
Foley will receive a stipend to cover the registration fees and travel costs associated with attending the NFMA's Introductory Course, which is designed to teach basic credit and analytical skills to municipal market participants. The course will be held in Philadelphia on Thursday and Friday.
Foley will also get a one-year student NFMA membership.
NFMA recognized Jessica Inacio, a student at the University of Connecticut, and Alex Sarabia, a student at the University of Chicago's Harris School, as honorable mentions for the award.
NFMA created the Peter Fugiel Scholarship to honor Fugiel's work as a municipal credit analyst as well as a professor and educator. He was a past NFMA chair who developed the Introductory Course and died in 2014.
"The NFMA is honored to be able to award this scholarship annually to a student in recognition of Dr. Fugiel's work, both as a practitioner of municipal credit analysis and as a professor/educator," NFMA said in a release.
NFMA is an organization of nearly 1,400 members, primarily research analysts, who evaluate credit and other associated risks in the municipal market. The members represent mutual funds, insurance companies, dealers, bond insurers, rating agencies, and financial advisory firms.
