Jack El-Hai 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 ...

and

author In legal discourse, an author is the creator of an original work that has been published, whether that work exists in written, graphic, visual, or recorded form. The act of creating such a work is referred to as authorship. Therefore, a sculpt ...

who focuses most of his work on the history of medicine, the history of science, and other historical topics.

Career

El-Hai graduated from

Carleton College Carleton College ( ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Northfield, Minnesota, United States. Founded in 1866, the main campus is between Northfield and the approximately Carleton ...

in 1979. He was the president of the

American Society of Journalists and Authors The American Society of Journalists and Authors (ASJA) was founded in 1948 as the Society of Magazine Writers, and is the professional association of independent nonfiction writers in the United States. History The organization was established in ...

. He has been a contributor to the ''

Atlantic Monthly ''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 1857 ...

'', the ''

Washington Post Magazine ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'', '' American Heritage'', and other publications. El-Hai has also taught courses on nonfiction writing at the School of Journalism and Mass Communication and the Creative Writing Program of the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

, the Split Rock Arts Program, the Mayo Clinic, and the Loft Literary Center. He has recently started teaching creative writing courses at

Augsburg College Augsburg University is a private university in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. It is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. It was founded in 1869 as a Norwegian-American Lutheran seminary known as Augsburg Seminariu ...

Works

He is the author of a biography of Dr. Walter Freeman, ''The Lobotomist: A Maverick Medical Genius and His Tragic Quest to Rid the World of Mental Illness'' (2005, Wiley), ''The Nazi and the Psychiatrist'', and ''Turbulent Air: A History of Northwest Airlines''. His shorter works have appeared in The Atlantic, Wired, Scientific American Mind, The History Channel Magazine, and many other publications.

Awards and honors

In 2002, he was the winner of an outstanding medical article as recognized by the June Roth Memorial Fund.

Personal

El-Hai lives in

Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

with his wife and two daughters.

References

American male journalists Living people Carleton College alumni Year of birth missing (living people) {{US-journalist-20thC-stub