As it launches a new online scholarship application process, the Sacramento Press Club has named two veteran Capitol reporters as the honorees for its two $4,000 rotating scholarships to be awarded to college students in May.

Retired Knight-Ridder reporter Bob Schmidt and long-time Associated Press Sacramento Bureau chief Doug Willis were selected as honorees. In addition, the organization will be granting five other scholarships ranging from $4,000 to $8,000 that are permanently named in honor of former capital reporters Earl “Squire” Behrens and Jerry Gillam, current Sacramento Bee columnist Dan Walters, and former journalism teachers Jean Stephens and Nereida Skelton.

Schmidt covered the Capitol and state government from 1961 to 1988, first for the Long Beach Press-Telegram and then for the San Jose Mercury News. He reported on the presidential campaigns of both Ronald Reagan and Jerry Brown and covered every Democratic and Republican national political convention from 1972 to 1988. In retirement, he freelanced for the Business Journal from 1993 to 2012, and still writes newsletter articles today for the Renaissance Society, the lifelong learning community at Sacramento State. Long active in the Sacramento Press Club, he was president from 1980 to 1988.

Willis, who died in December 2015 at age 77, followed Ronald Reagan from the governor’s office to the presidential campaign trail and covered Jerry Brown’s first stint as governor during a three-decade career for The Associated Press. Other highlights of his career included reporting on the attempted assassination of President Gerald Ford by Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme, covering Cesar Chavez’ farmworker strikes, and securing a jailhouse interview with mass murderer Juan Corona. Colleagues recalled him as a congenial but fierce competitor who never forgot a fact or let sources off the hook.

The scholarships are awarded annually to college students with ties to the Sacramento region who are pursuing a journalism career. To be eligible for next year’s awards, students must be entering their junior or senior year of college or attending graduate school in 2016. More details and directions for applying are available at www.sacpressclub.org. The application period runs from January 1 through the end of March.