Steve Coll

{{Short description|Journalist, author, academic, and business executive (born 1958)}}

{{Infobox writer

| name = Steve Coll

| image = Steve-Coll-2017.jpg

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| caption = Steve Coll, 2012

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| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1958|10|08}}

| birth_place = Washington, D.C., U.S.

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| occupation = Journalist, author, business executive

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| nationality = American

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| education =

| alma_mater = Occidental College (BA)
University of Sussex

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| genre = Journalism

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| notableworks = Ghost Wars; The Bin Ladens: An Arabian Family in the American Century (2008)

| spouse = Eliza Griswold

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| children = 4

| relatives =

| awards = Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting (1990); Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction (2005)

| signature =

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| website =

| portaldisp = Literature

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Steve Coll (born October 8, 1958) is an American journalist, academic, and executive.

He was dean of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, where he also served as the Henry R. Luce Professor of Journalism until 2022. A staff writer for The New Yorker, 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 awards, two Overseas Press Club 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 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. He attended Thomas S. Wootton High School in Rockville, Maryland, graduating in 1976. Following high school, he moved to Los Angeles, California, and enrolled in Occidental College, where he was a member of Phi Beta Kappa. In 1980, he graduated cum laude with majors in English and history. Coll also attended the University of Sussex during his studies.{{cite news |last1=Coll |first1=Steve |title=Growing Up Suburban |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/magazine/1990/06/10/growing-up-suburban/1d1c0cbf-7bec-4dac-b190-0c055d863fae/ |work=Washington Post Magazine |date=June 10, 1990}}

Coll is married to the journalist and poet Eliza Griswold.{{cite web|title=Steve Coll|url=https://journalism.columbia.edu/faculty/steve-coll|website=Columbia Journalism School|access-date=5 January 2018}}

Career

= Journalism =

File:Richard Haass and Steve Coll.jpg, President of the Council on Foreign Relations|alt=Coll (right) with Richard N. Haass, President of the Council on Foreign Relations|thumb]]

After college, Coll wrote for the Pasadena Weekly. He then wrote general-interest articles for California magazine.{{cite interview |interviewer= Harry Kreisler |title= Conversations with History |url= http://globetrotter.berkeley.edu/people5/Coll/coll-con1.html |publisher= University of California, Berkeley |date= March 15, 2005 |access-date= January 5, 2018}}

In 1985, he started working for The Washington Post 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. He and David A. Vise collaborated on a series of reports scrutinizing the Securities and Exchange Commission for which they received the 1990 Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting and the Gerald Loeb Award for Large Newspapers.{{cite web|title=Historical Winners List|url=https://www.anderson.ucla.edu/news-and-events/signature-events/gerald-loeb-awards/winners/historical-winners|website=UCLA Anderson School of Management|access-date=January 31, 2019}}{{Cite web |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-05-02-fi-61461-story.html |title=Government Investment Series Wins Loeb Award |date=May 2, 1995 |website=Los Angeles Times |access-date=February 1, 2019}}{{Cite web |title=David A. Vise and Steve Coll of The Washington Post - The Pulitzer Prizes |url=https://www.pulitzer.org/winners/david-vise-and-steve-coll |website=The Pultizer Prizes}} In 1989, he moved to New Delhi, when he was appointed as the Post's South Asia bureau chief. He served as a foreign correspondent through 1995.{{cite web|url=http://www.pulitzer.org/awards/1990 |title=The Pulitzer Prizes | Awards |publisher=Pulitzer.org |access-date=March 17, 2013}}

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 The New Yorker. Based in Washington, D.C., he reported on foreign intelligence and national security.{{cite web |url=http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/bios/steve_coll/search?contributorName=Steve%20Coll |title=Contributors: Steve Coll |publisher=Newyorker.com |access-date=March 17, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130312035350/http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/bios/steve_coll/search?contributorName=Steve%20Coll |archive-date=March 12, 2013 }}{{cite web |url=https://journalism.columbia.edu/directory/steve-coll |title=Steve Coll |publisher=Columbia Journalism School |access-date=September 13, 2024}} Since the beginning of 2024 he has been visiting senior editor at The Economist.

= 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 headquartered in Washington, D.C.{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/23/arts/23coll.html | work=The New York Times | first=Patricia | last=Cohen | title=Journalist Chosen to Lead a Public Policy Institute | date=July 23, 2007}}{{cite web |url=http://newamerica.net/people/steve_coll |title=Steve Coll |publisher=NewAmerica.net |access-date=March 17, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130131003229/http://www.newamerica.net/people/steve_coll |archive-date=January 31, 2013 |url-status=dead }} He has also contributed to the New York Review of Books, 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.{{cite web|url=http://theind.com/article-10683-abiz-top-50-business-luncheon-august-23-2012.html|title=Abiz Top 50 Business Luncheon - August 23, 2012|date=17 July 2012 }}

On October 23, 2012, Coll was elected to the Pulitzer Prize Board, administered by Columbia University.{{cite web|url=http://www.pulitzer.org/3_new_members |title=The Pulitzer Prizes | Journalist, playwright and regional newspaper editor named to Pulitzer Prize Board |publisher=Pulitzer.org |access-date=March 17, 2013}}

= Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism =

On March 18, 2013, it was announced that Coll would succeed Nick Lemann as the dean of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, effective July 1, 2013.{{cite web |url=http://www.journalism.columbia.edu/news/797 |title=Steve Coll named Dean of J-School |website=journalism.columbia.edu |publisher=Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism |access-date=March 18, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130319173302/http://www.journalism.columbia.edu/news/797 |archive-date=March 19, 2013 }}{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/19/nyregion/steve-coll-named-columbia-journalism-dean.html?_r=0 |title=Columbia Names New Dean for Journalism School |last=Kaminer |first=Ariel |work=The New York Times |date=March 18, 2013|access-date=March 18, 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 [Saddam Hussein]’s thinking about world politics, local power and his relationship to the United States than has been seen before".{{Cite news |last=Malone |first=Noreen |date=2024-02-26 |title=Is America All-Knowing and All-Powerful? Yes, Thought Saddam Hussein. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/26/books/review/the-achilles-trap-steve-coll.html |access-date=2024-03-12 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}} The Washington Post argued that despite its holistic picture of Hussein, Coll failed to accurately portray the CIA's motivations.{{Cite news |date=2024-02-27 |title=Review {{!}} Steve Coll's latest shows Saddam Hussein's practical side |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2024/02/27/achilles-trap-saddam-hussein-steve-coll-review/ |access-date=2024-03-12 |newspaper=Washington Post |language=en-US |issn=0190-8286}} In a March 2024 interview, Coll told PBS that the contributions by Hussein were missing from Americans' understanding of the war.{{Cite web |date=2024-03-10 |title='The Achilles Trap' offers a new look at Saddam Hussein's relationship with the U.S. |url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/the-achilles-trap-offers-a-new-look-at-saddam-husseins-relationship-with-the-u-s |access-date=2024-03-12 |website=PBS NewsHour |language=en-us}}

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," The Washington Post (winner){{cite web |url=http://www.livawards.org/winners/past_winners.php?y=1991 |title=Past Winners | Livingston Awards |publisher=Livawards.org |access-date=March 17, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130322005435/http://www.livawards.org/winners/past_winners.php?y=1991 |archive-date=March 22, 2013 }}{{cite web | title=Crisis and Change in South Asia | website=Wallace House Center for Journalists | date=2 May 2017 | url=https://wallacehouse.umich.edu/library/crisis-and-change-in-south-asia-series/ | access-date=3 January 2025}}
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{{cite web | title=The Ed Cunningham Award 2000 | website=Overseas Press Club of America | date=18 May 2022 | url=https://opcofamerica.org/Awardarchive/ed-cunningham-award-2000/ | access-date=3 January 2025}}
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){{cite web | title=The Cornelius Ryan Award 2004 | website=Overseas Press Club of America| date=8 November 2023 | url=https://opcofamerica.org/Awardarchive/cornelius-ryan-award-2004/ | access-date=3 January 2025}}
2005: Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction for Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and Bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001 (winner){{cite web|url=http://www.pulitzer.org/citation/2005-General-Nonfiction |title=The Pulitzer Prizes | Citation |publisher=Pulitzer.org |date=March 11, 2013 |access-date=March 17, 2013}}
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 (biography) for The Bin Ladens: An Arabian Family in the American Century (finalist){{cite web|url=http://bookcritics.org/blog/archive/2008_nbcc_finalists_announced/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090126210215/http://bookcritics.org/blog/archive/2008_nbcc_finalists_announced/|url-status=dead|archive-date=January 26, 2009|title=National Book Critics Circle: 2008 NBCC Finalists Announced|work=bookcritics.org}}
2009: PEN/John Kenneth Galbraith Award for The Bin Ladens: An Arabian Family in the American Century (winner)
2010: Edward Weintal Prize for Diplomatic Reporting {{Cite web |title=Edward Weintal Prize for Diplomatic Reporting |url=https://isd.georgetown.edu/programs/awards-lectures/weintal-prize/ |access-date=2024-09-13 |publisher=Georgetown University}}
2012: Financial Times and Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year Award for Private Empire (winner){{cite web |url=http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-11-01/steve-coll-wins-48-000-ft-goldman-for-exxon-mobil-study |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130118195004/http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-11-01/steve-coll-wins-48-000-ft-goldman-for-exxon-mobil-study |url-status=dead |archive-date=January 18, 2013 |title=Steve Coll Wins FT/Goldman Prize for Exxon Mobil Study |work=Business Week |first=Laurie|last=Muchnick |date=November 3, 2012 |access-date=November 4, 2012}}
2012: National Book Critics Circle Award (nonfiction) for Private Empire (finalist){{cite news |url=http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/01/14/national-book-critics-circle-names-2012-award-finalists/ |title=National Book Critics Circle Names 2012 Award Finalists |work=New York Times |first=John|last=Williams |date=January 14, 2012 |access-date=January 15, 2013}}
2018: National Book Critics Circle Award (nonfiction) for Directorate S (winner){{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/zadie-smith-anna-burns-among-winners-of-critics-prizes/2019/03/14/b15362d6-46b8-11e9-94ab-d2dda3c0df52_story.html |title=Zadie Smith, Anna Burns among winners of critics prizes |newspaper=The Washington Post |agency=The Associated Press |first=Hillel |last=Italie |date=March 14, 2018 |access-date=March 15, 2019 |archive-date=March 15, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190315071320/https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/zadie-smith-anna-burns-among-winners-of-critics-prizes/2019/03/14/b15362d6-46b8-11e9-94ab-d2dda3c0df52_story.html |url-status=dead }}
2024: Orwell Prize for Political Writing for The Achilles Trap (shortlisted){{Cite web |date=2024-06-11 |title=Orwell Prizes 2024 shortlists announced |url=https://www.booksandpublishing.com.au/articles/2024/06/11/253173/orwell-prizes-2024-shortlists-announced/ |access-date=2024-06-24 |publisher=Books+Publishing}}

Bibliography

{{cite book |author=Coll, Steve |year=1986 |title=The Deal of the Century: The Breakup of AT&T |url=https://archive.org/details/dealofcentury00coll |url-access=registration |publisher=Atheneum |isbn=9780689117572 |oclc=312023490}}
{{cite book |author=Coll, Steve |author-mask=1 |year=1987 |title=The Taking of Getty Oil: The Full Story of the Most Spectacular & Catastrophic Takeover of All Time |publisher=Scribner |isbn=9780689118609}}
{{cite book |author1=Vise, David A. |author2=Steve Coll |name-list-style=amp |year=1991 |title=Eagle on the Street: Based on the Pulitzer Prize–Winning Account of the SEC's Battle with Wall Street |location=New York |publisher=Scribner's |isbn=0684193140}}
{{cite book |author=Coll, Steve |year=1993 |title=On the Grand Trunk Road: A Journey into South Asia |publisher=Crown Press |isbn=9780812920260}}
{{cite book |author=Coll, Steve |author-mask=1 |year=2004 |title=Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan and Bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001 |publisher=Penguin |isbn=9781594200076}}
{{cite book |author=Coll, Steve |author-mask=1 |year=2008 |title=The Bin Ladens: An Arabian Family in the American Century |publisher=Penguin |isbn=9781616792527}}
{{cite book |author=Coll, Steve |author-mask=1 |year=2012 |title=Private Empire: ExxonMobil and American Power |publisher=Penguin |isbn=9781594203350}}
{{cite book |author=Coll, Steve |author-mask=1 |year=2018 |title=Directorate S: The C.I.A. and America's Secret Wars in Afghanistan and Pakistan, 2001–2016 |publisher=Penguin Press |isbn=9781846146602}}
{{cite book |author=Coll, Steve |author-mask=1 |year=2024 |title=The Achilles Trap: Saddam Hussein, the C.I.A., and the Origins of America's Invasion of Iraq |publisher=Penguin Press |isbn=9780525562269}}

Podcasts

{{cite podcast |author=Coll, Steve |date=November 23, 2015 |title=ISIS After Paris |work=The New Yorker |url=https://www.newyorker.com/podcast/comment/isis-after-paris}}
{{cite podcast |author=Coll, Steve |author-mask=1 |date=August 1, 2016 |title=Defying Conventions |work=The New Yorker |url=https://www.newyorker.com/podcast/comment/defying-conventions}}
{{cite podcast |author=Coll, Steve |author-mask=1 |date=August 29, 2016 |title=Images of War |work=The New Yorker |url=https://www.newyorker.com/podcast/comment/images-of-war}}
{{cite podcast |author=Coll, Steve |author-mask=1 |date=September 26, 2016 |title=The Fear Factor |work=The New Yorker |url=https://www.newyorker.com/podcast/comment/the-fear-factor-presidential-election-terrorism}}
{{cite podcast |author=Coll, Steve |author-mask=1 |date=April 10, 2017 |title=Trump's Intervention |work=The New Yorker |url=https://www.newyorker.com/podcast/comment/trumps-intervention}}

References

External links

[http://www.nybooks.com/contributors/steve-coll/ Steve Coll] at The New York Review of Books
{{C-SPAN|34106}}

= Interviews =

[https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=3853553 Steve Coll discusses Ghost Wars] on National Public Radio's All Things Considered, August 2004 (three-part online audio series)
[http://www.democracynow.org/2008/9/15/steve_coll_on_the_bin_ladens Hour-long interview about "The Bin Ladens: An Arabian Family in the American Century"] by Amy Goodman on Democracy Now!, September 15, 2008 (video, audio, and print transcript)
[http://bloggingheads.tv/diavlogs/19158 Video (with mp3 available) of conversation with Coll] on Bloggingheads.tv
[http://www.pritzkermilitary.org/whats_on/pritzker-military-presents/steve-coll-bin-ladens/ Webcast Interview] on The Bin Ladens at the Pritzker Military Museum & Library on October 23, 2008
[http://www.pritzkermilitary.org/whats_on/pritzker-military-presents/steve-coll-ghost-wars/ Webcast Interview] on Ghost Wars at the Pritzker Military Museum & Library on January 27, 2005