John Noble Wilford
| John Noble Wilford | |
|---|---|
| Born | October 4, 1933 Murray, Kentucky |
| Occupation | Journalist, author |
| Citizenship |  United States |
| Alma mater | University of Tennessee, Syracuse University |
| Genres | Science journalism |
| Notable award(s) | Pulitzer Prize (1984, 1987) |
John Noble Wilford (born October 4, 1933[1]) is an author and award-winning journalist for The New York Times.
Wilford's professional career began in 1956 at the Wall Street Journal, where he was a general assignment reporter and (after a two-year military tour of duty) a medical reporter.[1] In 1962, he joined Time to work as a contributing science editor, then moved in 1965 to The New York Times (NYT) to be a science reporter.[1] While at the NYT he also worked as assistant national news editor (1973–1975) and director of science news (1975–1979).
Wilford wrote his newspaper's front-page article about mankind's first walk on the moon. His was the only byline on the front page, beneath the headline "Men Walk On Moon" and under the subheading "A Powdery Surface is Closely Explored.".[2] Upon the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing, Wilford's article was lauded by journalist Stephen Dubner, co-author of Freakonomics. Dubner emphasized Wilford's skill in the use of data in his 1969 article. The data of which Dubner speaks is used in the following way by Wilford: "Although Mr. Armstrong is known as a man of few words, his heartbeats told of his excitement upon leading man’s first landing on the moon. At the time of the descent rocket ignition, his heartbeat rate registered 110 a minute — 77 is normal for him — and it shot up to 156 at touchdown." Dubner argues that this is one of the most elegant uses of data to have been ever used in journalism.[3]
Wilford won two Pulitzer Prizes, one in 1984 for reporting on "scientific topics of national import" and one in 1987 as part of a NYT team reporting on the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster. He has also won the G.M. Loeb Achievement Award from the University of Connecticut, the National Space Club Press Award, and two awards from the Aviation-Space Writers Association.[4] John Noble Wilford is also the 2008 recipient of the University of Tennessee's Hileman Disinguished Alumni Award (http://cci.utk.edu/AlumDevel/hileman).
Contents |
[edit] Bibliography
The following is a partial bibliography:
- We Reach the Moon; the New York Times Story of Man’s Greatest adventure (1969, ISBN 0373063690)
- The Mapmakers (1981, ISBN 0394461940)
- The Riddle of the Dinosaur (1985, ISBN 0394527631)
- Mars Beckons: the Mysteries, the Challenges, the Expectations of our Next Great Adventure in Space (1990, ISBN 0394583590)
- The Mysterious History of Columbus: an Exploration of the Man, the Myth, the Legacy (1991, ISBN 0679404767)
[edit] Personal life and education
Wilford was born October 4, 1933, in Murray, Kentucky and attended Grove High School across the border in nearby Paris, Tennessee.[1] After high school graduation, he attended Lambuth College for a year, then in fall 1952 transferred to the University of Tennessee (UT).[1] He received a B.S. in journalism from UT in 1955 and an M.A. in political science from Syracuse University.[4]
After graduation from Syracuse, Wilford spent two years with the U.S. Army in West Germany.[1]
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d e f Klein, Milton M.. "Prominent Alumni: Part II". University of Tennessee, Knoxville History. University of Tennessee. http://web.utk.edu/~mklein/alum2.html#wilford. Retrieved 2009-07-22.
- ^ Wilford, John Noble (July 13, 2009). "On Hand for Space History, as Superpowers Spar". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/14/science/space/14mission.html. Retrieved 2009-07-22.
- ^ Dubner, Stephen J. (2009-07-21). "When Data Tell the Story". The New York Times. http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/07/21/when-data-tell-the-story. Retrieved 2009-07-22).
- ^ a b "John Noble Wilford". University of Tennessee Libraries. http://www.lib.utk.edu/outreach/about/hall_fame/wilford.html. Retrieved 2009-01-07.
[edit] External links
- Recent and archived news articles by Wilford, from The New York Times
- American writers
- American journalists
- Science journalists
- Lambuth University alumni
- The New York Times writers
- The New York Times editors
- 1933 births
- Living people
- People from Murray, Kentucky
- Writers from Kentucky
- University of Tennessee alumni
- Syracuse University alumni
- Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting winners
