Steve Coll (born October 8, 1958) 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 ...

, academic, and executive. He was dean of the

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 ...

, where he also served as the Henry R. Luce Professor of Journalism until 2022. A staff writer for ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...

'', he served as the president and CEO of the New America think tank from 2007 to 2012. He is the recipient of two

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prizes () are 23 annual awards given by Columbia University in New York City for achievements in the United States in "journalism, arts and letters". They were established in 1917 by the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made his fo ...

awards, two

Overseas Press Club The Overseas Press Club of America (OPC) was founded in 1939 in New York City by a group of foreign correspondents. The wire service reporter Carol Weld was a founding member, as was the war correspondent Peggy Hull. The club seeks to maintain ...

Awards, a PEN American Center John Kenneth Galbraith Award, an Arthur Ross Book Award, a Livingston Award, a Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award, a ''Financial Times'' and Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year Award, and the Lionel Gelber Prize. From 2012 to 2013, he was a voting member of the Pulitzer Prize Board before continuing to serve in an ''

ex officio An ''ex officio'' member is a member of a body (notably a board, committee, or council) who is part of it by virtue of holding another office. The term '' ex officio'' is Latin, meaning literally 'from the office', and the sense intended is 'by r ...

'' capacity as the dean of the Columbia Journalism School.

Early life and family

Steve Coll was born on October 8, 1958, 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 ...

He attended Thomas S. Wootton High School in Rockville, Maryland, graduating in 1976. Following high school, he moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, and enrolled in

Occidental College Occidental College (informally Oxy) is a private liberal arts college in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1887 as a coeducational college by clergy and members of the Presbyterian Church, it became non-sectarian in 1910. It is ...

, where he was 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, ...

. In 1980, he graduated ''

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 ...

'' with majors in English and history. Coll also attended the

University of Sussex The University of Sussex is a public university, public research university, research university located in Falmer, East Sussex, England. It lies mostly within the city boundaries of Brighton and Hove. Its large campus site is surrounded by the ...

during his studies. Coll is married to the journalist and poet Eliza Griswold.

Career

Journalism

After college, Coll wrote for the ''Pasadena'' ''Weekly''. He then wrote general-interest articles for ''California'' magazine. In 1985, he started working for ''

The Washington Post ''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 ...

'' as a general assignment feature writer for the paper's ''Style'' section. Two years later, he was promoted to serve as the financial correspondent for the newspaper, based in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. He and David A. Vise collaborated on a series of reports scrutinizing the

Securities and Exchange Commission The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government, created in the aftermath of the Wall Street crash of 1929. Its primary purpose is to enforce laws against market m ...

for which they received the 1990 Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting and the

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 Large Newspapers. In 1989, he moved to

New Delhi New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the Government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Parliament ...

, when he was appointed as the ''Posts South Asia bureau chief. He served as a foreign correspondent through 1995. Coll began working for the newspaper's Sunday magazine insert in 1995, serving as publisher of the magazine from 1996 to 1998. He was promoted to managing editor of the newspaper in 1998 and served in that capacity through 2004. He has also served as an associate editor for the newspaper from late 2004 to August 2005. From September 2005 through December 2023, Coll was a member of the writing staff of ''

''. Based in Washington, D.C., he reported on foreign intelligence and national security. Since the beginning of 2024 he has been visiting senior editor at

The Economist ''The Economist'' is a British newspaper published weekly in printed magazine format and daily on Electronic publishing, digital platforms. It publishes stories on topics that include economics, business, geopolitics, technology and culture. M ...

New America Foundation

On July 23, 2007, Coll was named as the next director of the New America Foundation, a non-profit, non-partisan

think tank A think tank, or public policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governme ...

headquartered in Washington, D.C. He has also contributed to the ''

New York Review of Books New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 1 ...

,'' particularly about the war in Afghanistan. On June 25, 2012, Coll announced his resignation as President of the New America Foundation to pen a follow-up to ''Ghost Wars''. On October 23, 2012, Coll was elected to the

Board, administered by

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism

On March 18, 2013, it was announced that Coll would succeed

Nick Lemann Nicholas Berthelot Lemann is an American writer and academic, and is the Joseph Pulitzer II and Edith Pulitzer Moore Professor of Journalism and Dean Emeritus of the Faculty of Journalism at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. He ...

as the dean of the

, effective July 1, 2013.

Publications

Coll's ''The Achilles Trap'' was published in 2024 to positive reviews, with The New York Times writing that it offers, "a more intimate picture of the dictator addam Hussein��s thinking about world politics, local power and his relationship to the United States than has been seen before". The Washington Post argued that despite its holistic picture of Hussein, Coll failed to accurately portray the CIA's motivations. In a March 2024 interview, Coll told PBS that the contributions by Hussein were missing from Americans' understanding of the war.

Honors and awards

* 1990: Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting (co-winner with David A. Vise) * 1992: Livingston Award for International Reporting for "Crisis and Change in South Asia," ''

'' (winner) * 2000: Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award for "Peace Without Justice: A Journey to the Wounded Heart of Africa," ''The Washington Post'' (1st Prize: International Print) * 2000: Ed Cunningham Award for "Peace Without Justice: A Journey to the Wounded Heart of Africa", ''The Washington Post'' * 2004: Lionel Gelber Prize for '' Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and Bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001'' (winner) * 2004: Cornelius Ryan Award for ''Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and Bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001'' (winner) * 2005:

Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction The Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction is one of the seven American Pulitzer Prizes that are awarded annually for the "Letters, Drama, and Music" category. The award is given to a nonfiction book written by an American author and published du ...

for ''Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and Bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001'' (winner) * 2005: Arthur Ross Book Award for ''Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and Bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001'' (winner) * 2008:

National Book Critics Circle Award The National Book Critics Circle Awards are a set of annual American literary awards by the National Book Critics Circle (NBCC) to promote "the finest books and reviews published in English".PEN/John Kenneth Galbraith Award for ''The Bin Ladens: An Arabian Family in the American Century'' (winner) * 2010: Edward Weintal Prize for Diplomatic Reporting * 2012: ''Financial Times'' and Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year Award for ''Private Empire'' (winner) * 2012: National Book Critics Circle Award (nonfiction) for ''Private Empire'' (finalist) * 2018: National Book Critics Circle Award (nonfiction) for ''Directorate S'' (winner) * 2024: Orwell Prize for Political Writing for ''The Achilles Trap'' (shortlisted)

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * *

Podcasts

* * * * *

References

External links

Steve Coll
at ''

The New York Review of Books ''The New York Review of Books'' (or ''NYREV'' or ''NYRB'') is a semi-monthly magazine with articles on literature, culture, economics, science and current affairs. Published in New York City, it is inspired by the idea that the discussion of ...

'' *

Interviews

Steve Coll discusses ''Ghost Wars''
on

National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

's ''

All Things Considered ''All Things Considered'' (''ATC'') is the flagship news program on the American network National Public Radio (NPR). It was the first news program on NPR, premiering on May 3, 1971. It is broadcast live on NPR affiliated stations in the United ...

,'' August 2004 (three-part online audio series)
Hour-long interview about "The Bin Ladens: An Arabian Family in the American Century"
by Amy Goodman on ''

Democracy Now! ''Democracy Now!'' is an hour-long TV, radio, and Internet news program based in Manhattan and hosted by journalists Amy Goodman (who also acts as the show's executive producer), Juan González, and Nermeen Shaikh. The show, which airs live ...

,'' September 15, 2008 (video, audio, and print transcript)
Video (with mp3 available) of conversation with Coll
on Bloggingheads.tv
Webcast Interview
on ''The Bin Ladens'' at the

Pritzker Military Museum & Library The Pritzker Military Museum & Library (formerly Pritzker Military Library) is a non-profit museum and research library for the study of military history located in a state-of-the art facility in Kenosha, WI. The institution was founded in 2003, ...

on October 23, 2008
Webcast Interview
on ''Ghost Wars'' at the

on January 27, 2005 {{DEFAULTSORT:Coll, Steve 20th-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers American newspaper reporters and correspondents American newspaper editors American male journalists American war correspondents War correspondents of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) American non-fiction crime writers The New Yorker staff writers Non-fiction espionage writers Occidental College alumni Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction winners Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Journalism winners 20th-century American male writers New America (organization) Gerald Loeb Award winners for Large Newspapers Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs 21st-century American male writers Columbia University faculty National Book Critics Circle Award winners 1958 births Living people