2022 TPRC Charles Benton Early Career Scholar Awards

The winner of the 2022 Charles Benton Early Career Scholars award is Dr. Erezi Ruth Ogbo, a postdoctoral associate researcher at the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. In Broadband Voucher Programs: Evaluating the Alabama Broadband Connectivity Program, Erezi examined the only digital inclusion program using direct-to-consumer vouchers that have been implemented in the US. Known as ABC for Students, the program provided continuity of broadband service for about 200,000 Alabama students during the COVID-19 pandemic. Erezi’s research found that ABC for Students’ participation rates rose with lower median income, more Black and more Hispanic populations, suggesting that the program reached households that were most in need of assistance with broadband adoption. The runner-up for this year’s award is Richard Cole Campbell, a PhD candidate in economics at the University of Illinois at Chicago. His research found that access to fixed, high-speed broadband appeared to improve student achievement—specifically math and reading test scores—in North Carolina public schools. The Benton Institute for Broadband & Society thanks the TPRC community for continuing to recognize digital inclusion and broadband adoption scholarship.

[Adrianne B. Furniss is the Executive Director of the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society.]