Thomas Byrne Edsall (born August 22, 1941) is an American journalist and academic.[1] He is best known for his weekly opinion column for The New York Times,[2] Previously, he worked as a reporter for The Providence Journal and for The Baltimore Sun, and as a correspondent for The New Republic. In addition, he spent 25 years covering national politics for the Washington Post. He held the Joseph Pulitzer II and Edith Pulitzer Moore Chair at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism until 2014.[3][4]
Thomas B. Edsall | |
|---|---|
 Edsall in 2016 | |
| Born | Thomas Byrne Edsall August 22, 1941 Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Nationality | American |
| Education | Brown University Boston University (BA) |
| Occupation(s) | Journalist, author, professor |
| Known for | Weekly column in The New York Times (2011 to present) |
| Spouse | Mary D. Edsall (m. 1965) |
| Children | 1 |
| Awards | Finalist, Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction (1992) |
Early life and family
editEdsall was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the son of Richard Linn Edsall, a market research executive, and Katherine Byrne, a museum executive.[5] Edsall is the grandson of David Linn Edsall, who served as Dean of the Harvard Medical School from 1918 to 1935.[6][7] He is the nephew of John Tileston Edsall, a noted protein scientist and professor at Harvard University and Geoffrey Edsall, the former president of the American Association of Immunologists.[8][9]
He attended Brown University before receiving his B.A. from Boston University in 1966.
Career
editEdsall served as a VISTA volunteer from 1966 to 1967 and he wrote for The Providence Journal in 1965.[10] Edsall covered politics for The Baltimore Sun from 1967 to 1981; and he covered national politics for the Washington Post from 1981 to 2006. He was the political editor of the Huffington Post from 2007 to 2009,[11] a correspondent for The New Republic from 2006 to 2013 and for the National Journal from 2006 to 2007.[3]
In November and December 2006, Edsall was a guest columnist for the print edition of the New York Times Op-Ed page.[12][13]
From 2006 to 2014, Edsall served as the Joseph Pulitzer II and Edith Pulitzer Moore Professor of Public Affairs Journalism at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism,[3] where he continues to teach in an adjunct capacity.[1]
From 2011 to the present he has been a weekly opinion columnist for the New York Times.[10][2]
He makes occasional TV and radio appearances on CNN, CSPAN, MSNBC, PBS, FOX, and NPR.[14]
Personal life
editEdsall is married and lives in New York and Washington, D.C., with his wife, Mary (daughter of Karl Deutsch),[5] with whom he co-authored the book Chain Reaction,[15] a 1992 Pulitzer Prize finalist in general nonfiction.[16]
The couple has one daughter, Alexandra, a graduate of Harvard Law School and former law clerk for Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg.[17]
Awards and fellowships
edit- Shapiro Fellowship, School of Media and Public Affairs, George Washington University (2015)[18]
- Markwell Award of the International Society of Political Psychology (2014)[19]
- Finalist, General Nonfiction, Pulitzer Prize, 1992, for Chain Reaction: The Impact on American Politics of Race, Rights and Taxes (W.W. Norton)[20]
- Bill Pryor Memorial Award, Washington-Baltimore Newspaper Guild, 1981[21]
- Carey McWilliams Award, American Political Science Association, 1994[22]
- Fellowship at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars 1996–1997[3]
- Media Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University, 1997, 2000, 2003–2006, 2010–2012[3]
Works
edit| External videos | |
|---|---|
 Booknotes interview with Edsall on Chain Reaction, December 15, 1991, C-SPAN | |
| Washington Journal interview with Edsall on The Age of Austerity, January 27, 2012, C-SPAN |
- Edsall, Thomas B. (1984). The New Politics of Inequality. W. W. Norton. ISBN 0-393-30250-4.
- —— (1988). Power and Money: Writing About Politics. W. W. Norton.
- ——; Edsall, Mary D. (August 1992). Chain Reaction: The Impact of Race, Rights, and Taxes on American Politics. W. W. Norton. ISBN 0-393-30903-7.
- —— (August 28, 2006). Building Red America: The New Conservative Coalition and the Drive For Permanent Power. Basic Books. ISBN 0-465-01815-7.
- —— (January 10, 2012). The Age of Austerity: How Scarcity Will Remake American Politics. Doubleday. ISBN 978-0-385-53519-9.
- —— (April 11, 2023). The Point of No Return: American Democracy at the Crossroads. Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-691-16489-2.
References
edit- ^ a b "Tom Edsall, adjunct faculty". Columbia University Journalism School. 2021. Retrieved March 31, 2021.
- ^ a b "Thomas B. Edsall, opinion columnist". New York Times. Retrieved March 31, 2021.
- ^ a b c d e "Thomas B. Edsall". Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. Archived from the original on January 3, 2016.
- ^ "Thomas Byrne Edsall Curriculum Vitae" (PDF). Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. October 22, 2014. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 24, 2015. Retrieved April 1, 2021.
- ^ a b "Mary Deutsch Wed To Thomas Edsall". The New York Times. August 23, 1965. p. 34.
- ^ "Edsall, David Linn (1869-1945) · Jane Addams Digital Edition". digital.janeaddams.ramapo.edu. Retrieved 2023-10-19.
- ^ Leff, Laurel; Schoen, Robert E. (May 2021). "Fighting Prejudice and Absorbing Refugees From Nazism: The National Committee for the Resettlement of Foreign Physicians, 1939-1945". Annals of Internal Medicine. 174 (5): 680–686. doi:10.7326/M20-6002. ISSN 1539-3704. PMID 33999678. S2CID 234768033.
- ^ "Geoffrey Edsall, M.D." American Association of Immunologists. Retrieved August 21, 2024.
- ^ "John T. Edsall". nasonline.org. Retrieved 2023-10-23.
- ^ a b "Opinionator: Thomas B. Edsall". New York Times. 9 October 2013. Archived from the original on December 4, 2013.
- ^ Charlip, Lauren (May 7, 2007). "Movers". Mediaweek. 17 (19): 27.
- ^ Mitchell, Greg (November 25, 2006). "Despite Election Results, Edsall Still Sees 'Red'". Editor & Publisher. Archived from the original on June 9, 2012. Retrieved January 3, 2011.
- ^ Edsall, Thomas (November 26, 2006). "Edsall Responds to 'E&P' Editor's Critique". Editor & Publisher. Archived from the original on June 9, 2012. Retrieved January 3, 2011.
- ^ "Tom Edsall | Columbia Journalism School". journalism.columbia.edu. Retrieved 2023-10-23.
- ^ "Thomas, Mary Edsall to deliver Yablonky Lecture". The University Record (University of Michigan). November 2, 1992. Retrieved January 4, 2012.
- ^ The Pulitzer Prizes. "Chain Reaction: The Impact of Race, Rights, and Taxes on American Politics, by Thomas Byrne Edsall and Mary D. Edsall (W.W. Norton & Company)". www.pulitzer.org. Retrieved 2023-10-18.
- ^ "Alexandra Edsall | C-SPAN.org". www.c-span.org. Retrieved 2023-10-18.
- ^ "Shapiro Fellow – Thomas B. Edsall". School of Media & Public Affairs, The George Washington University. Retrieved March 30, 2017.
- ^ "Markwell Media Award". Section: Past Winners. ISPP: International Society of Political Psychology. ispp.org. Retrieved March 30, 2017.
- ^ "The 1992 Pulitzer Prize Finalist in General Nonfiction". The Pulitzer Prizes. pulitzer.org. Retrieved March 30, 2017.
- ^ "Edsall, Thomas Byrne". Social Networks and Archival Context (SNAC). University of Virginia. Retrieved June 29, 2017.
- ^ "Post Reporter Wins Carey McWilliams Award". The Washington Post. June 4, 1994. Archived from the original on March 15, 2016. Retrieved January 6, 2012.
External links
edit
- New York Times columns
- Appearances on C-SPAN
- A War of All Against All; Are Democrats and Republicans now engaged in a 'death struggle' over dwindling resources, making gridlock and dysfunction more likely? by W. James Antle III January 10, 2012, a The Age of Austerity WSJ book review
- "What Became of the Democrats" by David Oshinsky
- "Race" by Thomas Byrne Edsall
- "The Wind that Blew in Reagan" by Murray Kempton
- The Political Price of Austerity by Mark Schmitt January 20, 2012 NYT book review
- Collected columns from The New Republic