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Orville Hickock Schell III (born May 20, 1940) is an American
sinologist Sinology, also referred to as China studies, is a subfield of area studies or East Asian studies involved in social sciences and humanities research on China. It is an academic discipline that focuses on the study of the Chinese civilizatio ...
. He is currently Arthur Ross Director of the
Asia Society The Asia Society is a 501(c)(3) organization that focuses on educating the world about Asia. It has several centers in the United States (Manhattan, Washington, D.C., Houston, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle) and around the world (Hong Ko ...
's Center on U.S.-China Relations. He previously served as dean of the
University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...
's Graduate School of Journalism.


Early life and education

Schell's father Orville Hickok Schell, Jr., was a prominent lawyer who headed the
New York City Bar Association The Association of the Bar of the City of New York, commonly referred to as the New York City Bar Association (City Bar), founded in 1870, is a voluntary association of lawyers and law students. Since 1896, the organization has been headquartere ...
and also the
New York City Ballet New York City Ballet (NYCB) is a ballet company founded in 1948 by choreographer George Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein. Balanchine and Jerome Robbins are considered the founding choreographers of the company. Léon Barzin was the company's fir ...
. The senior Schell also chaired the human rights group Americas Watch from its founding in 1981 until his death in 1987, co-founded
Helsinki Watch Helsinki Watch was a private American non-governmental organization established by Robert L. Bernstein in 1978, designed to monitor the former Soviet Union's compliance with the 1975 Helsinki Accords. Expanding in size and scope, Helsinki Watc ...
, forerunner to
Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Headquartered in New York City, the group investigates and reports on issues including War crime, war crimes, crim ...
, and became the namesake of the Orville H. Schell, Jr. Center for International Human Rights at
Yale Law School Yale Law School (YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824. The 2020–21 acceptance rate was 4%, the lowest of any law school in the United ...
. Orville Schell III is the older brother of writer
Jonathan Schell Jonathan Edward Schell (August 21, 1943 – March 25, 2014) was an American reporter and writer whose work primarily dealt with American foreign policy from the Vietnam War to the War on Terror, as well as the threat posed by nuclear weapons and ...
. Born in New York City in 1940, Schell attended Pomfret School in
Pomfret, Connecticut Pomfret is a town in Windham County, Connecticut with a population of 4,266 according to the 2020 United States Census. The town is part of the Northeastern Connecticut Planning Region. It was incorporated in 1713 and was named after Pontefract ...
. After completing his high school education at Pomfret in 1958, Schell began attending
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 ...
initially in its Class of 1962. He left Harvard in 1960 to study Chinese at
Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...
. Then from 1961 to 1962, Schell transferred to
National Taiwan University National Taiwan University (NTU; zh, t=國立臺灣大學, poj=Kok-li̍p Tâi-oân Tāi-ha̍k, p=, s=) is a National university, national Public university, public research university in Taipei, Taiwan. Founded in 1928 during Taiwan under J ...
to continue his studies in Chinese. While in Taiwan, Schell began writing "Man in Asia" columns for the ''
Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe,'' also known locally as ''the Globe'', is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Boston Globe'' is the oldest and largest daily new ...
''. He then returned to Harvard and took Asian history, culture and politics courses under John Fairbank and Edwin Reischauer, and completed his bachelor's degree in 1964. In 1964–65 Schell worked for the
Ford Foundation The Ford Foundation is an American private foundation with the stated goal of advancing human welfare. Created in 1936 by Edsel Ford and his father Henry Ford, it was originally funded by a $25,000 (about $550,000 in 2023) gift from Edsel Ford. ...
in
Jakarta Jakarta (; , Betawi language, Betawi: ''Jakartè''), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta (; ''DKI Jakarta'') and formerly known as Batavia, Dutch East Indies, Batavia until 1949, is the capital and largest city of Indonesia and ...
, Indonesia. He then pursued Chinese studies at the
University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...
, earning a master's degree in 1967, becoming researcher for sociology and history professor
Franz Schurmann Herbert Franz Schurmann (June 21, 1926 – August 20, 2010) was an American sociologist and historian who was best known for his research and writings about Communist China during the Cold War period. Schurmann taught at the University of Califo ...
(head of the school's Center for Chinese Studies) on a three-volume work, ''The China Reader'' (1967, Random House). Schell was named as a co-author, establishing him as a China scholar. Schell continued his graduate studies at University of California, Berkeley, reaching an all but dissertation stage. As anti-Vietnam War protests shook the campus, he became involved in anti-war activism and journalism, and in 1967 he signed the ''
Writers and Editors War Tax Protest Tax resistance, the practice of refusing to pay taxes that are considered unjust, has probably existed ever since rulers began imposing taxes on their subjects. It has been suggested that tax resistance played a significant role in the collapse o ...
'' pledge, vowing to refuse to pay tax as a protest against the Vietnam War.


Journalism career

In 1969 Schell and Schurmann co-founded
Pacific News Service Pacific News Service (PNS) was an American nonprofit alternative news media organization. PNS ceased operations in 2017. The organization was located in Berkeley, California. History PNS was founded in 1969 by historian and sociologist F ...
(PNS) to create and distribute news and commentary from a broader spectrum of voices, especially viewpoints from abroad. The PNS was critical of the United States role in Indochina during the Vietnam War and supportive of establishing diplomatic relations with the PRC. Before his 1974 departure for China, Schell had already published three books, ''The China Reader'', ''Starting Over: A College Reader'' and ''Modern China: The Story of a Revolution''. In 1975 Schell and his younger brother
Jonathan Schell Jonathan Edward Schell (August 21, 1943 – March 25, 2014) was an American reporter and writer whose work primarily dealt with American foreign policy from the Vietnam War to the War on Terror, as well as the threat posed by nuclear weapons and ...
(who later wrote the bestseller '' The Fate of the Earth'', and joined ''
The Nation ''The Nation'' is a progressive American monthly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper ...
'' and the Nation Institute) became correspondents at ''
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 ...
''. Schell has also served as a correspondent for 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 ...
'' and the ''New Republic''. He has written widely for many other magazine and newspapers, including ''The New Yorker'', ''Time'' magazine, ''
Harper's ''Harper's Magazine'' is a monthly magazine of literature, politics, culture, finance, and the arts. Launched in New York City in June 1850, it is the oldest continuously published monthly magazine in the United States. ''Harper's Magazine'' has ...
'', ''The Nation'', ''
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 ...
'', ''Wired'', ''
Foreign Affairs ''Foreign Affairs'' is an American magazine of international relations and foreign policy of the United States, U.S. foreign policy published by the Council on Foreign Relations, a nonprofit organization, nonprofit, nonpartisan, membership or ...
'', ''
Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly news magazine based in New York City. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely distributed during the 20th century and has had many notable editors-in-chief. It is currently co-owned by Dev P ...
'', the ''
China Quarterly ''The China Quarterly'' (CQ) is a British triple-anonymous peer-reviewed academic journal established in 1960 on contemporary China including Taiwan. It is considered one of the most important academic journals about China in the world and is p ...
'', and ''
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 ...
'', ''
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 ...
'' and ''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...
''. In 1980 Schell won an
Alicia Patterson Journalism Fellowship The Alicia Patterson Foundation (APF) program was established in 1965 in memory of Alicia Patterson, who was the editor and publisher of ''Newsday'' for nearly 23 years before her death in 1963. Fellowship The Foundation provides competitive, one- ...
to research and write about the reliance on drugs in the U.S.
meat industry The meat industry are the people and companies engaged in modern industrialized livestock agriculture for the production, packing, preservation and marketing of meat (in contrast to dairy products, wool, etc.). In economics, the meat industry is ...
. He has also been a co-producer for the
Public Broadcasting Service The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia Arlington County, or simply Arlington, is a County (United States), county in the ...
(PBS) production center
WGBH-TV WGBH-TV (channel 2), branded GBH or GBH 2 since 2020, is the primary PBS List of PBS member stations, member television station in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Affiliated stations and facilities WGBH-TV is the Flagship (broadcasting), ...
in Boston (1984),
NBC Nightly News ''NBC Nightly News'' (titled as ''NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas'' for its weeknight broadcasts ) is the flagship daily evening News broadcasting#Television, television news program for NBC News, the news division of the NBC television network ...
(1987), CBS's ''
60 Minutes ''60 Minutes'' is an American television news magazine broadcast on the CBS television network. Debuting in 1968, the program was created by Don Hewitt and Bill Leonard, who distinguished it from other news programs by using a unique style o ...
'' (1991), and helped produce
Peter Jennings Peter Charles Archibald Ewart Jennings (July 29, 1938August 7, 2005) was a Canadian-American television journalist. He was best known for serving as the sole anchor of ''ABC World News Tonight'' from 1983 until his death from lung cancer in 200 ...
's specials at ABC Television. In 1994 he worked for the PBS documentary program '' Frontline''. In 1992 Schell won an
Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...
and an Alfred I. duPont Award - Columbia University Silver Baton for producing ''
60 Minutes ''60 Minutes'' is an American television news magazine broadcast on the CBS television network. Debuting in 1968, the program was created by Don Hewitt and Bill Leonard, who distinguished it from other news programs by using a unique style o ...
''s ''
Made in China Made in China or Made in PRC is a country of origin label, often in English, affixed to products wholly or partially made in the People's Republic of China (PRC). The label became prominent in the 1990s, when foreign companies based in the United ...
'', a documentary about the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre. In 1997, Schell won a George Peabody Award for his production of '' Frontline''s documentary "Gate of Heavenly Peace". Schell's selection as Dean of the
UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism The UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism is a graduate professional school on the campus of University of California, Berkeley. It is designed to produce journalists with a two-year Master of Journalism (MJ) degree. It also offers a minor i ...
elicited an attack from right-wing radio talk show host,
Michael Savage Michael Alan Weiner (born March 31, 1942) known by his professional name Michael Savage, is an American author, political commentator, activist, and former radio host. Savage is best known as the host of '' The Savage Nation'', a nationally ...
, who alleged the head of the search committee, sociology professor
Troy Duster Troy Smith Duster (born July 11, 1936) is an American sociologist with research interests in the sociology of science, public policy, race and ethnicity and deviance. He is a Chancellor's Professor of Sociology at University of California, Berkele ...
, had refused to interview him. Savage considered himself a qualified conservative journalist for the job, and claimed that Schell's appointment constituted political patronage, which is illegal under California's labor laws. The suit also argued that a political litmus test for the deanship illegally denied public employment and First Amendment rights to a conservative applicant. The lawsuit was dropped as having little merit and when all conservative applicants withdrew from consideration. During his tenure Schell was responsible for the hirings of
Christopher Hitchens Christopher Eric Hitchens (13 April 1949 – 15 December 2011) was a British and American author and journalist. He was the author of Christopher Hitchens bibliography, 18 books on faith, religion, culture, politics, and literature. He was born ...
,
Michael Lewis Michael Monroe Lewis (born October 15, 1960) Gale Biography In Context. is an American author and financial journalist. He has also been a contributing editor to '' Vanity Fair'' since 2009, writing mostly on business, finance, and economics. ...
, Cynthia Gorney, Michael Pollan, Louis Rossetto, Charles Ferguson,
Barbara Ehrenreich Barbara Ehrenreich (, ; ; August 26, 1941 – September 1, 2022) was an American author and political activist. During the 1980s and early 1990s, she was a prominent figure in the Democratic Socialists of America. She was a widely read and aw ...
, Mark Danner, Steve Wasserman,
Stephen Talbot Stephen Henderson Talbot (born February 28, 1949) is a TV documentary film producer, producer, writer and reporter. Talbot directed and produced "The Movement and the 'Madman' " for the PBS series American Experience in 2023. He is a longtime co ...
and Tom Engelhardt, among others. In April 2006, Schell announced his intention to resign as dean. Schell is now the Arthur Ross Director of the Center on U.S.–China Relations at the
Asia Society The Asia Society is a 501(c)(3) organization that focuses on educating the world about Asia. It has several centers in the United States (Manhattan, Washington, D.C., Houston, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle) and around the world (Hong Ko ...
in New York, which focuses on multimedia journalism, original research and public events to bring attention to areas of mutual interest to the United States and China. Since its inception, the Center has focused primarily on issues of energy and global climate change. Schell oversa
"The China Boom Project""On Thinner Ice"
a joint multimedia project with David Breashears's ''Glacier Research Imaging Project'' (GRIP) and MediaStorm, and a new policy effort to maximize American interest in response to investment from China. A frequent participant in the
World Economic Forum The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an international non-governmental organization, international advocacy non-governmental organization and think tank, based in Cologny, Canton of Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded on 24 January 1971 by German ...
, Schell is a member of the
Council on Foreign Relations The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is an American think tank focused on Foreign policy of the United States, U.S. foreign policy and international relations. Founded in 1921, it is an independent and nonpartisan 501(c)(3) nonprofit organi ...
, the
Climate Policy Initiative Climate Policy Initiative (CPI) is an independent non-profit research group and international climate policy organization based in San Francisco, California with other offices worldwide. CPI is supported primarily by philanthropic organizations ...
, GE's Eco Imagination Advisory Board and the Council on the Future of Media, which claims to be "championing a new global, independent news and information service whose role is to inform, educate and improve the state of the world-one that would take advantage of all platforms of content delivery from mobile to satellite and online to create a new global network". Schell is also a senior research scholar at
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 ...
's Weatherhead East Asian Institute.


Farming career

Schell has criticized
factory farming Intensive animal farming, industrial livestock production, and macro-farms, also known as factory farming, is a type of intensive agriculture, specifically an approach to mass animal husbandry designed to maximize production while minimizing co ...
. In 1976 he published ''The Town That Fought to Save Itself'', about the San Francisco suburb of Bolinas, where he has a ranch. In 1978 he co-founded the company Niman Ranch (then named "Niman-Schell") with Bill Niman with the objective of raising cattle in a humane and environmentally sound manner. He left the company in 1999. In 1984 he published the book '' Modern Meat: Antibiotics, Hormones, and the Pharmaceutical Farm'', criticizing meat production in the United States.


Views on China

Schell first visited the
People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
in 1974, during the last years of
Mao Zedong Mao Zedong pronounced ; traditionally Romanization of Chinese, romanised as Mao Tse-tung. (26December 18939September 1976) was a Chinese politician, revolutionary, and political theorist who founded the People's Republic of China (PRC) in ...
. After Mao's death, Schell wrote: "He conceived of the Chinese revolution, and then helped cause it to happen. And, in the process, the thought of Chairman Mao became inculcated in almost every Chinese. The word almost literally became flesh. And it seemed clear, even before Mao died, that his death could not erase the way in which he had almost become transubstantiated in his people." In 2004 Schell called China's Communist-Capitalist mix "Leninist capitalism". In an interview with
Terry Gross Terry Gross (born February 14, 1951) is an American journalist who is the host and co-executive producer of '' Fresh Air'', an interview-based radio show produced by WHYY-FM in Philadelphia and distributed nationally by NPR. Since joining NP ...
of NPR's ''
Fresh Air ''Fresh Air'' is an American radio talk show broadcast on National Public Radio stations across the United States since 1985. It is produced by WHYY-FM in Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The show's hosts are Terry Gross and Tonya Mosl ...
'' broadcast November 19, 2009, Schell stated that whether or not China's "autocratic capitalism" could deliver economic growth better than democracy was a question he faced "with some trepidation." He suggests the Chinese form of government may be more adaptive than democracy because it is not encumbered by the special interest power blocs found in the United States, and can sometimes be able to act more decisively to deal with the complexities of the world of today, although it can also more quickly implement poor decisions. But, he emphasized that he personally preferred living in an open society. After
Xi Jinping Xi Jinping, pronounced (born 15 June 1953) is a Chinese politician who has been the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and Chairman of the Central Military Commission (China), chairman of the Central Military Commission ...
's ascension to power in 2013, Schell has become increasingly critical of China's authoritarian model of governance, and in 2020 wrote an essay about the "death of engagement" between the US and China.


Publications

*''The China Reader'' (with Franz Schurmann) (1967). *''Starting Over: A College Reader'' (1970) (with Frederick Crews). *''Modern China: The Story of a Revolution'' (with
Joseph W. Esherick Joseph W. Esherick (Chinese name: , born 1942) is an emeritus professor of modern History of China, Chinese history at the University of California, San Diego. He is the holder of thHwei-chih and Julia Hsiu Chair in Chinese Studies Esherick is a gr ...
) (1972) *''Modern China: The Making of a New Society from 1839 to the Present'' (with
Joseph W. Esherick Joseph W. Esherick (Chinese name: , born 1942) is an emeritus professor of modern History of China, Chinese history at the University of California, San Diego. He is the holder of thHwei-chih and Julia Hsiu Chair in Chinese Studies Esherick is a gr ...
) (1972) *''The Town That Fought to Save Itself'' (1976) *''In the People's Republic: An American's First-Hand View of Living and Working in China'' (1977) *''Brown'' (1978) (biography of California governor
Jerry Brown Edmund Gerald Brown Jr. (born April 7, 1938) is an American lawyer, author, and politician who served as the 34th and 39th governor of California from 1975 to 1983 and 2011 to 2019. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic P ...
) * *'' Modern Meat: Antibiotics, Hormones, and the Pharmaceutical Farm'' (1984) *''To Get Rich Is Glorious: China in the Eighties'' (1984) *''Discos and Democracy: China in the Throes of Reform'' (1988) *''Mandate of Heaven: A New Generation of Entrepreneurs, Dissidents, Bohemians, and Technocrats Lays Claim to China's Future'' (1994) *''Mandate of Heaven: The Legacy of Tiananmen Square and the Next Generation of China's Leaders'' (1995) *''Virtual Tibet: Searching for Shangri-La from the Himalayas to Hollywood'' (2000) *''The China Reader: The Reform Years'' (co-edited with
David Shambaugh David Leigh Shambaugh (; born January 18, 1953) is an American political scientist, sinologist and policy advisor. He currently serves as the Gaston Sigur Professor of Asian Studies, Political Science, and International Affairs at George Washin ...
) (1999) *''Empire: Impressions of China'' (2004) *''Wealth and Power: China's Long March to the Twenty-First Century'' (with John Delury) (2013) *The Treacherous Silicon Triangle, ''
Foreign Affairs ''Foreign Affairs'' is an American magazine of international relations and foreign policy of the United States, U.S. foreign policy published by the Council on Foreign Relations, a nonprofit organization, nonprofit, nonpartisan, membership or ...
'', July 17, 2023 (co-authored with
Larry Diamond Larry Jay Diamond (born October 2, 1951) is an American political sociologist and scholar in the field of democracy studies. Diamond is a senior fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, Stanford University's main center ...
and Jim Ellis)


References


External links


China Thinks Long-term, But Can It Relearn to Act Long-term? - Summary of talkmp3
and , at the Long Now Foundation, September 2006
About the Asia Society Center on U.S.-China RelationsSchell archive
from ''
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 ...
''
Homepage of the Asia Society Center on U.S.-China RelationsWorld Economic Forum Global Agenda 2009Orville Schell's Curriculum Vitae
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Schell, Orville American journalism academics American sinologists American non-fiction writers News agency founders American tax resisters University of California, Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism faculty University of California, Berkeley alumni Harvard University alumni 1940 births Living people Pomfret School alumni Weatherhead East Asian Institute faculty American international relations scholars American foreign policy writers