Chandler Burr is an American

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

, author, and museum curator.

Early life and education

Born in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

and raised in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, Burr graduated from Principia College in Elsah, Illinois. He began his

journalism Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the "news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree of accuracy. The word, a noun, applies to the journ ...

career in 1987 as a stringer in ''

The Christian Science Monitor ''The Christian Science Monitor'' (''CSM''), commonly known as ''The Monitor'', is a nonprofit news organization that publishes daily articles both in Electronic publishing, electronic format and a weekly print edition. It was founded in 1908 ...

's'' Southeast Asia bureau,Official Biography
, ChandlerBurr.com and later became a Contributing Editor to '' U.S. News & World Report''. Burr has also written for ''

The Atlantic ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher based in Washington, D.C. It features articles on politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 185 ...

'' on

epidemiology Epidemiology is the study and analysis of the distribution (who, when, and where), patterns and Risk factor (epidemiology), determinants of health and disease conditions in a defined population, and application of this knowledge to prevent dise ...

and public health. Burr earned a master's degree in

international economics International economics is concerned with the effects upon economic activity from international differences in productive resources and consumer preferences and the international institutions that affect them. It seeks to explain the patterns an ...

and Japan studies from the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) at Johns Hopkins.

Career

Writing

In 1993, Burr wrote a cover story, "Homosexuality and Biology", for ''

''. The story became the basis for his first book '' A Separate Creation: The Search for the Biological Origins of Sexual Orientation'' (1996), which investigated

sexual orientation Sexual orientation is an enduring personal pattern of romantic attraction or sexual attraction (or a combination of these) to persons of the opposite sex or gender, the same sex or gender, or to both sexes or more than one gender. Patterns ar ...

research. ''A Separate Creation'' was published by Hyperion, a subsidiary of the

Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

, and its argument that sexual orientation is inborn prompted a call by

Southern Baptists The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), alternatively the Great Commission Baptists (GCB), is a Christian denomination based in the United States. It is the world's largest Baptist organization, the largest Protestant, and the second-largest Ch ...

to boycott Disney films and theme parks. In 1996 '' The Weekly Standard'' published Burr's article "Why Conservatives Should Embrace the Gay Gene", in which he argued that scientific research demonstrating that sexual orientation is biologically determined supports a conservative view of human nature. Burr's ''The Emperor of Scent'', published in 2003, tells how the French-Italian scientist Luca Turin originated the theory about the functioning of the

sense of smell The sense of smell, or olfaction, is the special sense through which smells (or odors) are perceived. The sense of smell has many functions, including detecting desirable foods, hazards, and pheromones, and plays a role in taste. In humans, it ...

. As a result, ''The New Yorker'' proposed that Burr describe the creation of a perfume. Burr's March 2005 ''New Yorker'' article recounted Jean-Claude Ellena's year-long creation, in Paris and Grasse, of

Hermès Hermès International S.A. ( , ) is a French Luxury goods, luxury fashion house established in 1837. It specializes in leather goods, silk goods, lifestyle accessories, home furnishings, perfumery, jewelry, watches and ready-to-wear. Since the ...

' Un Jardin sur le Nil. Burr's ''The Perfect Scent: A Year Inside the Perfume Industry in Paris & New York'', published in 2008, describes Ellena's creation of Un Jardin sur le Nil in Paris, and

Sarah Jessica Parker Sarah Jessica Parker (born March 25, 1965) is an American actress and television producer. In a career spanning over five decades, she has performed across several productions of both Sarah Jessica Parker filmography, screen and stage. List o ...

's creation of Lovely in New York City under the license

aegis The aegis ( ; ''aigís''), as stated in the ''Iliad'', is a device carried by Athena and Zeus, variously interpreted as an animal skin or a shield and sometimes featuring the head of a Gorgon. There may be a connection with a deity named Aex, a ...

of the perfume corporation Coty. Burr's novel, ''You Or Someone Like You'', was published by Ecco in summer 2009. From August 2006 until the end of 2010, Burr was perfume critic of ''

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 ...

''.

Museum and non-profit work

In December 2010 he founded the Department of Olfactory Art at the

Museum of Arts and Design The Museum of Arts and Design (MAD), based in Manhattan, New York City, collects, displays, and interprets objects that document contemporary and historic innovation in craft, art, and design. In its exhibitions and educational programs, the ...

in New York City. In December 2010, Burr left ''The New York Times'' to curate the exhibition "The Art of Scent: 1889-2011" at the

in New York City, which allowed visitors to experience seminal works by some of the greatest scent artists of the late-19th, 20th and early-21st centuries such as Jean-Claude Ellena, Ernest Beaux, and Jacques Cavallier. ''The New York Times'' reported that when asked about his refusal to display packaging or bottles, Burr replied " e smell sthe work of art. I’m opposed to the photon. If you have to see it, I’m not interested." In 2014 Burr established the Department of Scent Art as an independent

501c3 A 501(c)(3) organization is a United States corporation, trust, unincorporated association or other type of organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code. It is one of the 29 types of 5 ...

non-profit arts organization based in New York. The DSA produces exhibitions such as ''Hyper-Natural: Scent from Art to Design'' at the

National Gallery of Victoria The National Gallery of Victoria, popularly known as the NGV, is an art museum in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1861, it is Australia's oldest and list of most visited art museums in the world, most visited art mu ...

, Melbourne.”

Personal life

The

Bogotá Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish Imperial period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city, capital and largest city ...

newspaper ''El Tiempo'' in its edition of 2 December 2011 carried an article on how Burr reportedly had failed to disclose his sexual orientation in petitioning to adopt two Colombian

orphan An orphan is a child whose parents have died, are unknown, or have permanently abandoned them. It can also refer to a child who has lost only one parent, as the Hebrew language, Hebrew translation, for example, is "fatherless". In some languages ...

s. As a result, the Instituto Colombiano de Bienestar Familiar halted the adoption proceedings, claiming a lack of candor on Burr's part; Burr responded that the children knew about his sexual orientation and "they didn't care".Gay Father Overcomes Discrimination to Win Adoption Case in Colombia
Americas Quarterly On 13 December 2011 it was reported that the adoptions were made official and that Burr and his adopted sons were reunited. Burr is an

atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...

."People ask me, "Is there that much to write about perfume?" Lanvin just sent me its latest, Rumeur. If I weren't already an atheist, I would lose my faith in God again. But it gave me an idea for another piece for the Times." Chandler Burr, The Independent (London), September 4, 2006, Pg. 11.

References

External links

Burr article in ''The New Yorker'' (the making of the new Hermès scent)
Interview, author reading, and excerpt from "The Emperor of Scent"; plus Burr's Top Ten List of Perfumes.
''You, or Someone Like You''
'' Narrative Magazine'' (Spring 2009).
An interview with Qu3stionsOfficial website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Burr, Chandler 1963 births American atheists Burr (biological origins of homosexuality), Chandler American gay writers Living people Principia College alumni Burr (science writer), Chandler Olfactory art