University of Montana alumna wins top college photojournalism award
UM photojournalism alumna Maddie McCuddy. (UM Photo by Tommy Martino)
Official response and confirmed impact
Maddie McCuddy, 23, of La Center, Washington, earned the competition's top portfolio award for 2026, adding to a growing list of national and international honors.
Earlier this year, McCuddy won the National Photojournalism Championship in the Hearst Journalism Awards Program, giving her top honors in two of the biggest competitions in collegiate journalism.
Her winning portfolio featured photographs taken during her time at UM and a summer journalism residency at Boyd's Station in rural Kentucky.
The images included a 78-year-old chess grandmaster in Missoula, a young boy at a Kentucky babysitting business and an elderly man surrounded by stray cats at his rural home.
McCuddy developed her documentary storytelling skills at UM's School of Journalism, where she focused on long-form photography and capturing personal stories.
She also recently received the Ian Parry Photojournalism Grant, an international award that provides funding to help emerging photojournalists complete documentary projects.
Incident background
A University of Montana journalism alumna has become the first in school history to win the top prize in the College Photographer of the Year competition, one of the world's most prestigious student photojournalism contests.
