Everett Hullum Scholarship for Excellence in Journalism

Everett Hullum was born on Jan. 10, 1942, in Vicksburg, Miss., to Mary Evelyn Webb and Everett Cecil Hullum Sr. The family moved to Dallas in 1954, and Everett graduated from Sunset High School in 1960.

He earned a Bachelor of Journalism degree from The University of Texas at Austin in 1964.

While at Texas, he worked for The Daily Texan and served in various reporting and editing positions in the campus newspaper’s sports department.

After graduation, he worked as a sports reporter for the Waco News-Tribune before moving to Memphis, Tenn., to edit missionary education publications for the Southern Baptist Brotherhood Commission.

After three years with the commission, a stint in the U.S. Army, and attending Syracuse University, where he earned a Master of Journalism degree, Hullum moved to Atlanta to work for the Southern Baptist Home Mission Board. As assistant editor, then editor, of Home Missions magazine, he produced a cutting-edge publication that won numerous regional and national awards. Following his successful career in religious journalism, Hullum worked for NationsBank (later Bank of America) as editor of publications.

“He was a salt-of-the-earth kind of man and a great friend and teammate,” his co-worker, Dallas Lee, recalled. “Talented, good-humored, generous, and demanding of quality in a deceptive, aw-shucks kind of way — he made us look good, then gave us the credit. Working with Everett made you better.”

After retiring from the bank, Hullum continued editing publications for various nonprofits, including The Carter Center, Heifer International, Agnes Scott College and Georgia Tech University.

Before his death in 2015, he and his wife, Rebecca, enjoyed many years of fun-filled retirement in Taos, N.M., and Princeville, Kauai, where Hullum served faithfully in various charitable ministries of local Episcopal congregations.

Funds distributed from the Everett Hullum Scholarship for Excellence in Journalism will be used to provide scholarships to undergraduate students majoring in journalism who have a financial need. Recipients need not be the most meritorious students or have the highest GPAs, but they should exhibit qualities that suggest they will be excellent journalists.