Susan Deborah Chira (born May 18, 1958, in
Manhattan
Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...
) is an American journalist. She was the editor-in-chief of
The Marshall Project until January 2025. Previously, Chira was a senior correspondent and editor covering gender for ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
''. From September 2014 until September 2016, she was a deputy executive editor of the newspaper and oversaw its news report. She was previously the assistant managing editor for news,
[''Times Makes Masthead Promotions''](_blank)
/ref> and was the ''Times'''s foreign news editor from 2004 to 2011.
She was raised in Rye, New York
Rye is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States, within the New York metropolitan area, New York City metropolitan area. It received its charter as a city in 1942, making it the most recent such charter in the state. Its area of ...
, and attended Phillips Academy Andover in Andover, Massachusetts
Andover is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. It was Settler, settled in 1642 and incorporated in 1646."Andover" in ''Encyclopedia Britannica, The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 15th ed. ...
, where she graduated in 1976. She received her Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...
degree from Harvard University
Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...
in 1980, graduating summa cum laude
Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sout ...
. She is a member of Phi Beta Kappa
The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States. It was founded in 1776 at the College of William & Mary in Virginia. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal arts and sciences, ...
.
While at Harvard, Chira was the president of the ''Harvard Crimson
The Harvard Crimson is the nickname of the college sports teams of Harvard College. The school's teams compete in NCAA Division I. As of 2013, there were 42 Division I intercollegiate Varsity team, varsity sports teams for women and men at Harva ...
''.
Chira joined ''The New York Times'' in 1981. She was the ''Times'''s correspondent and then bureau chief in Tokyo
Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...
from 1984 to 1989.
She has also been the metropolitan reporter at bureaus in Albany, New York
Albany ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It is located on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River. Albany is the oldes ...
, and Stamford, Connecticut
Stamford () is a city in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States, outside of New York City. It is the sixth-most populous city in New England. Stamford is also the largest city in the Western Connecticut Planning Region, Connecticut, Weste ...
, national education correspondent, deputy editor of the Foreign desk, editor of ''The Week in Review'',[''The New York Times Ask a Reporter Q&A - Susan Chira''](_blank)
/ref> and editorial director of book development. In May 2018, following a stint as an editor covering gender issues, she was named interim Metro editor following the resignation of Wendell Jamieson. She served in that post until the appointment of Clifford J. Levy to the position two months later.
She was part of The New York Times team that won the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service in 2018 for reporting on sexual harassment; her article, with Catrin Einhorn, focused on decades of sexual harassment at two Ford factories in Chicago. She also shared the 2018 Gerald Loeb Award
The Gerald Loeb Awards, also referred to as the Gerald Loeb Awards for Distinguished Business and Financial Journalism, is a recognition of excellence in journalism, especially in the fields of business, finance and the economy. The award was e ...
for Investigative Journalism for her reporting on the sexual predator
A sexual predator is a person seen as obtaining or trying to obtain sexual contact with another person in a metaphorically "predatory" or abusive manner. Analogous to how a predator hunts down its prey, so the sexual predator is thought to "hunt" ...
allegations against film producer Harvey Weinstein
Harvey Weinstein (, ; born March 19, 1952) is an American film producer and convicted sex offender. In 1979, Weinstein and his brother, Bob Weinstein, co-founded the entertainment company Miramax, which produced several successful independent ...
that led to the Me Too movement
#MeToo is a social movement and Consciousness raising, awareness campaign against sexual abuse, sexual harassment and rape culture, in which women publicize their experiences of sexual abuse or sexual harassment. The phrase "Me Too" was init ...
.
Family
Chira is married to Michael Shapiro,
Michael Shapiro Wed To Susan Chira in Rye
" ''The New York Times'', 3 September 1984.Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism
The Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism is located in Pulitzer Hall on the university's Morningside Heights campus in New York City. Founded in 1912 by Joseph Pulitzer, Columbia Journalism School is one of the oldest journalism sch ...
. They have two daughters, Eliza Shapiro, a reporter at the ''Times'', and Joni Shapiro, a writer and librarian.
Bibliography
* ''A Mother's Place: Taking the Debate About Working Mothers Beyond Guilt and Blame.'' New York: Harper, 1998.
* ''Cautious Revolutionaries: Occupation Planners and Japan's Post-War Land Reform.'' Agricultural Policy Research Center, 1982. ASIN: B0006EBHJS
Notes
Living people
Phillips Academy alumni
The Harvard Crimson people
The New York Times editors
Journalists from New York City
1958 births
Gerald Loeb Award winners for Investigative
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