Berklee Creates Scholarship Fund in Honor of Recording Legend Al Schmitt The scholarship fund will support financially and academically deserving students majoring in music production and engineering.
By
Colette Greenstein
November 23, 2021
Al Schmitt
Berklee has created the Al Schmitt Engineering Scholarship to honor the legacy of multiple Grammy Award-winning recording engineer and producer Al Schmitt.
The scholarship was established by the Music Production and Engineering Department (MP&E) with a $50,000 donation from the endowment fund of Wayne Wadhams, a former Berklee faculty member who was instrumental in founding the department in 1983. The fund will support students majoring in MP&E who are financially and academically deserving and have the potential to make a significant contribution to society through the art and craft of audio engineering and record production. The tuition-based scholarship will be awarded to one student per year, with the inaugural recipient set to be announced in fall 2022.
Al Schmitt would be so honored and pleased, as is his family, at making the scholarship available, said his wife, Lisa Schmitt. We can think of no greater way to celebrate Al than to financially assist those attending Berklee who want to follow in his footsteps.
Schmitt, one of the most decorated and longest-active recording engineers in the music industry, passed away on April 26, 2021. In a career spanning more than 60 years, he won 20 Grammy Awards, two Latin Grammys, and a Trustees Grammy for Lifetime Achievement in 2006. He won his first Grammy in 1962 for engineering Henry Mancini's Hatari! film score.
Want to Contribute to the Al Schmitt Scholarship?
Learn how to make a gift to the Al Schmitt Engineering Scholarship fund.
Schmitt recorded more than 150 gold and platinum albums, including George Benson's Breezin, Steely Dan's Aja, Natalie Cole's Unforgettable... with Love, and Berklee alumna Diana Krall's When I Look in Your Eyes. He collaborated with some of the most iconic musicians and artists of the past 60 years, from Duke Ellington, Ray Charles, Frank Sinatra, and Elvis Presley to Michael Jackson, Quincy Jones, Barbra Streisand, Ike and Tina Turner, and Celine Dion, among many others.
I can't think of a more meaningful way for us to honor a man that defined every benchmark of the craft of music production and audio engineering. Al's work embodied limitless musicality, stunning technical ability, and most importantly a sense of warmth, compassion, and humanity, said Rob Jaczko, chair of Music Production and Engineering. The MP&E Department at Berklee is proud to award the Al Schmitt Engineering Scholarship to recognize and inspire the next generations of audio professionals.
A native New Yorker, Schmitt later moved to Los Angeles and became the first engineer hired when RCA Records opened its studio in Hollywood in the 1960s. Known as the engineer's engineer, Schmitt cofounded the Recording Academys Producers and Engineers Wing and served on the academy's National Board of Trustees. In 2014, he received an Emmy nomination for his work on CBS's The Beatles: The Night That Changed America. That same year, Berklee presented Schmitt with an honorary doctorate, and in 2015, he was the first engineer/mixer to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
There are no two words on the planet more synonymous with excellence in recording than Al Schmitt, said Daniel M. Thompson, assistant chair of Music Production and Engineering. Over decades, Al has come to define the art of the craft, and at the same time I can think of few engineers or producers who have been as universally beloved as Al, for his wit, his wisdom, and his warmth as a person. We are thrilled to be able to help preserve Als legacy while lifting up the next generation through the Al Schmitt Engineering Scholarship at Berklee.
Related Categories
News
Most Popular
Arooj Aftab B.M. '10
Berklee's 2022 Alumni Grammy Nominees: See the Full List Nominees include Arooj Aftab, Miguel Zen n, Esperanza Spalding, and others in categories including Record of the Year, Album of the Year, and Song of the Year.
Latest
Tia Fuller, Berklee City Music ambassador and artistic director of the Berklee City Music Boston High School Academy program, delivers remarks at the Berklee Encore Gala ahead of performances with City Music students and fellow ambassadors.
Image by Mike Spencer
Berklee City Music Launches Ambassador Program Nine ambassadors representing all aspects of the music industry will advise, mentor, and work with Berklee City Music students throughout the academic year.
Berklee student Henry Ferland, aka Traash Boyyy, with former Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis
Image by Shira Stoll, courtesy of NBC10 Boston
Student TikToker Takes on Trash with Help from a Former Governor Henry Ferlands activism has gone viral on TikTok and led to a meeting with fellow clean-up enthusiast Michael Dukakis last week.
Al Schmitt
Image courtesy of the Schmitt family
Berklee Creates Scholarship Fund in Honor of Recording Legend Al Schmitt The scholarship fund will support financially and academically deserving students majoring in music production and engineering.
Read All
Subscribe The latest sounds, stories, and ideas, sent to your inbox weekly.
Most recent headlines
11/12/2025
Dalet, a leading provider of cloud-native, end-to-end media workflow solutions, ...
28/11/2025
WASHINGTON Federal Communications Commission has released a tentative agenda for the December Open Commission Meeting scheduled for Thursday, December 18, 2025 ...
28/11/2025
The Professional Fighters League is looking to super-serve fans of mixed martial...
28/11/2025
Fubo has released in beta on select Roku devices a new feature that lets users display up to four simultaneous streams at once....
28/11/2025
The WNBA playoffs and Week 4 of the NFL regular season highlight the list of live sports events airing on television this weekend....
28/11/2025
The 32nd class of honorees to the B+C Hall of Fame took to the stage at New York's Ziegfeld Ballroom on September 26 for a gala induction event. Click below...
28/11/2025
We hold in our hands the very last Next Text for Next TV, the weekly back-and-fo...
28/11/2025
DirecTV said it made a deal with EchoStar to buy EchoStar's video businesses, including satellite-TV provider Dish TV and virtual MVPD Sling TV, for $1 plus...
28/11/2025
The Broadcasting+Cable Hall of Fame, the premier industry event paying tribute to the influencers, innovators and shining lights of broadcast, cable and streami...
28/11/2025
Unwrapped: The Toy Show Appeal - airing this Sunday on RT One and RT Player- s...
27/11/2025
LONDON Vizrt has added several AI-driven advanced features offering improved speed, intelligence and accuracy in the newest version of its media asset managemen...
27/11/2025
Prime Video has launched AI-powered video season recaps in a beta version for select English-language Prime Original series in the U.S., a move Amazon is callin...
27/11/2025
27 Nov 2025
GSMA brings M360 Eurasia 2026 to Samarkand in partnership with VEON...
27/11/2025
Tahar Rahim and Izuka Hoyle star in the gripping six-part Sky Original from Acad...
27/11/2025
Thursday 27 November 2025
Sky Arts Reveals the Nation's Greatest Basslines - and Queen Reign Supreme
The UK's most iconic basslines have been revealed...
27/11/2025
Back to All News
Stranger Things 5': Prepare for One Last Adventure With O...
27/11/2025
The media industry has a paradox at its core. It's an industry built on light, color and imagination, yet behind the scenes, it's powered by one of the ...
27/11/2025
Rating reflects rating progress across areas including policies, diversity & inclusion, health & safety and Net Zero leadership
Winchester, UK, 27 November 202...
27/11/2025
What are the industry standards for Retail Media? Kathryn explains that certification is based on the IAB Europe Retail Media Measurement Standards and the IAB ...
27/11/2025
World champion boxer and Irish sporting icon Katie Taylor will be in studio this...
27/11/2025
Roblox, one of the world's most popular online gaming platforms for primary ...
27/11/2025
Black Friday is leveling up. Get ready to score one of the biggest deals of the season - 50% off the first three months of a new GeForce NOW Ultimate membership...
26/11/2025
SVG Sit-Down: Prime Video EP Mike Muriano Previews Massive Black Friday Slate Fe...
26/11/2025
A cinematic snow sculpture at the 1995 Sundance Film Festival. Photo by Randall Michelson...
26/11/2025
Book podcasts are booming. On Spotify, you'll find everything from celebrity book clubs to deep dives with bestselling authors. And in markets where audiobo...
26/11/2025
Mumbai, November 24, 2025: In a first-of-its-kind initiative, JioStar, in collab...
26/11/2025
LONDON Factual content producer ITN Productions has launched a new low-latency IP gallery for news bulletins....
26/11/2025
MIAMI TelevisaUnivision said it struck a new multiyear distribution agreement with YouTube TV that includes distribution of TelevisaUnivision's U.S. network...
26/11/2025
OpenDrives, Inc., a leader in software-defined data storage and data services, today announced the launch of the Atlas Corporate Creative Solution. This new Atl...
26/11/2025
Disguise, the industry-leading company powering the world's biggest live performances, is partnering with pioneering LED wall manufacturer DVS to give atten...
26/11/2025
HighField AI, the pioneer in agentic and multimodal automation for broadcast and media production, today announced the expansion of its global channel partner n...
26/11/2025
As high-stakes Premier League fixtures approach and additional premium content launches, with MONO positioning themselves to dominate Thailand's sports stre...
26/11/2025
Hosting a wide variety of events from high-intensity NHL games to complex live music concerts and major entertainment productions, Montreal's 21,000 capacit...
26/11/2025
Vizrt, the leader in live production technology revolutionizing viewer engagement and experience, releases AI-driven advances focusing on speed, intelligence, a...
26/11/2025
ITN Productions, an award-winning factual content producer, today launched a new low-latency IP gallery for news bulletins. Responsible for delivering a leading...
26/11/2025
Ikegami reports ongoing advances throughout 2025 in developing and delivering coordinated television production solutions that maximize quality, versatility and...
26/11/2025
Following the Nov. 21 blackout of NBCUniversal channels on Fubo, the two sides have traded barbs about their inability to reach a new carriage deal....
26/11/2025
LONDON As TV sports rights become increasingly important for both broadcasters and streamers, Ampere Analysis predicts global investment in the genre will surpa...
26/11/2025
LOS ANGELES Vubiquity said it has achieved the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Media & Entertainment Competency as part of the AWS Partner Network (APN). This designa...
26/11/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission's Enforcement Bureau said it has entered into a consent decree with Comcast calling for the cable company t...
26/11/2025
Berklee Named to the Hollywood Reporters Top Music Schools List The publication highlights the college's screen scoring program, industry partnerships, and ...
26/11/2025
Back to All News
Animated Series Love Through a Prism' Casts New Light on ...
26/11/2025
Back to All News
NALIP Unveils Fifth Cohort of Director Incubator
Social Impact
26 November 2025
United States
Link copied to clipboard
The National Assoc...
26/11/2025
YouView Achieves Greenly Gold Certification for SustainabilityNov 26, 2025
YouView is proud to announce a Gold Certification award from Greenly for our perform...
26/11/2025
Back to All News
Netflix Deepens Partnership with Taiwan's 62nd Golden Hors...
25/11/2025
Tracy Bonareri Onchoke, an investigative journalist from Kenya is the winner of the Thomson Foundation's Young Journalist Award 2025.
The 26-year-old-sele...
25/11/2025
SVG All-Stars: Blayke Scheer, Senior Director, Creative Content, YES NetworkThe Indiana alum has turned storytelling into an artform for more than two decadesBy...
25/11/2025
Op-Ed: With FCC's C-Band Auction on the Horizon, Broadcasters Need Proven, C...
25/11/2025
Analysis: Is Baller League really the future of sport? By Callum McCarthy, Editor-at-Large
Tuesday, November 25, 2025 - 10:10
Print This Story
With KSI on...
Berklee Creates Scholarship Fund in Honor of Recording Legend Al Schmitt The scholarship fund will support financially and academically deserving students majoring in music production and engineering.
