Walter Sullivan (journalist)

{{short description|American science reporter and author}}

Walter Seager Sullivan, Jr. (January 12, 1918 – March 19, 1996) was considered the "dean" of science writers.John Noble Wilford. [https://www.nytimes.com/1996/03/20/us/walter-sullivan-78-dies-showed-science-at-its-most-daring.html "Walter Sullivan, 78, Dies; Showed Science at Its Most Daring"]. The New York Times, March 29, 1996, p. D24. {{registration required}}

Sullivan spent most of his career as a science reporter for The New York Times. Over a 50-year career, he covered all aspects of science ‒Antarctic expeditions, rocket launchings in the late 1950s, physics, chemistry, and geology.

He wrote several well-received books, including Assault on the Unknown about the International Geophysical Year; We Are Not Alone, a bestseller about the search for extraterrestrial intelligence; Continents in Motion; Black Holes: The Edge of Space, the End of Time; and Landprints.

In 1971, Sullivan participated in a symposium on the occasion of the arrival of Mariner 9 to Mars, together with Ray Bradbury; Arthur C. Clarke; Carl Sagan and Bruce C. Murray. Their discussions were recorded in the book Mars and the Mind of Man.{{cite journal |last1=Hartmann |first1=W. K. |title=Mars and the Mind of Man. A panel discussion, Pasadena, Calif., Nov. 1971. Ray Bradbury, Arthur C. Clarke, Bruce Murray, Carl Sagan, and Walter Sullivan. Harper and Row, New York, 1973. xiv, 144 pp., illus. $7.95 |journal=Science |date=10 May 1974 |volume=184 |issue=4137 |pages=663–664 |doi=10.1126/science.184.4137.663 }}{{cite journal |last1=Gingerich |first1=Owen |title=Mars and the mind of man |journal=Icarus |date=February 1975 |volume=24 |issue=2 |pages=269–270 |doi=10.1016/0019-1035(75)90104-9 }}

Sullivan won nearly every award open to a science journalist, including the Daly Medal of the American Geographical Society, the George Polk Award, the Distinguished Public Service Award of the National Science Foundation, the AIP Science writing award; the James T. Grady-James H. Stack Award for Interpreting Chemistry for the Public from the American Chemical Society, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

In 1980, Sullivan was awarded the Public Welfare Medal from the National Academy of Sciences.{{cite web |title=Public Welfare Medal |url=http://www.nasonline.org/programs/awards/public-welfare-medal.html |publisher=National Academy of Sciences |access-date=30 October 2019}}

The American Geophysical Union named its science journalism award after Sullivan.{{Cite news |title=Walter Sullivan Award for Excellence in Science Journalism—Features |url=https://www.agu.org/Honor%20and%20Recognize/Honors/Union%20Awards/Walter%20Sullivan%20Award |publisher=American Geophysical Union |access-date=30 October 2019}}