Walter Isaacson

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Walter Isaacson
Isaacson in New York in 2012
Born (1952-05-20) May 20, 1952 (age 71)
New Orleans, LA, USA
OccupationAuthor
SpouseCathy Wright Isaacson[1]
AwardsBenjamin Franklin Medal (Royal Society of Arts) (2013)

Walter Isaacson (born May 20, 1952)[2] is an American writer and biographer. He is the President and CEO of the Aspen Institute, a nonpartisan educational and policy studies organization based in Washington, D.C. He has been the Chairman and CEO of CNN and the Managing Editor of Time. He has written biographies of Steve Jobs, Benjamin Franklin, Albert Einstein and Henry Kissinger.

Early life

Walter Isaacson was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. After graduating from New Orleans' Isidore Newman School and a summer at Deep Springs College as a participant in the Telluride Association Summer Program (TASP), Isaacson attended Harvard University and earned a B.A. in 1974 in history and literature. While at Harvard, Isaacson was president of the Signet Society, a member of the Harvard Lampoon and a resident of Lowell House. He then attended the University of Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar at Pembroke College and read Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (PPE).[1][2]

Career

Walter Isaacson began his career in journalism at The Sunday Times of London and then the New Orleans Times-Picayune. He joined Time magazine in 1978 and served as a political correspondent, national editor, and editor of new media before becoming the magazine's 14th editor in 1996. He became Chairman and CEO of CNN in 2001, and then president and CEO of the Aspen Institute in 2003.[2] He is the author of American Sketches (2009), Einstein: His Life and Universe (2007), Benjamin Franklin: An American Life (2003) and Kissinger: A Biography (1992), and he is the co-author, with Evan Thomas, of The Wise Men: Six Friends and the World They Made (1986).[1] He is the editor of Profiles in Leadership: Historians on the Elusive Quality of Greatness (2010, W. W. Norton).[2][3]

On October 24, 2011, Isaacson's authorized biography of Apple Computer co-founder Steve Jobs was published by Simon & Schuster. It became an international best-seller, breaking all records for sales of a biography. The book was based on over forty interviews with Jobs over a two-year period right up until shortly before his death. Isaacson also drew on conversations with friends, family members, and business rivals of the entrepreneur whose vision revolutionized computing, music, phones, animated films, and publishing.[4][5][6][7][8]

He is the chairman emeritus of the board of Teach for America. He is on the boards of United Airlines, Tulane University, Overseers of Harvard University, the Bloomberg Family Foundation, and the Society of American Historians, of which he served as president in 2012. In 2012, he was selected as one of the Time 100, the magazine's list of the most influential people in the world.[9] Isaacson is a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and was awarded its 2013 Benjamin Franklin Medal.[10] He is also a member of the American Philosophical Society.[citation needed]

In 2014 the National Endowment for the Humanities selected Isaacson for the Jefferson Lecture, the U.S. federal government's highest honor for achievement in the humanities. The title of Isaacson's lecture was to be "The Intersection of the Humanities and the Sciences."[11]

Government service

Isaacson at a State Department briefing

In October 2005, Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco appointed Isaacson vice chairman of the Louisiana Recovery Authority, a board that oversaw spending on the recovery from Hurricane Katrina. In December 2007, he was appointed by President George W. Bush to the chairman of the U.S.-Palestinian Partnership, which seeks to create economic and educational opportunities in the Palestinian territories.[12] Secretary of State Hillary Clinton appointed him vice-chair of the Partners for a New Beginning, which encourages private-sector investments and partnerships in the Muslim world.[13] He also serves as the cochair of the U.S.-Vietnamese Dialogue on Agent Orange, which in January 2008 announced completion of a project to contain the dioxin left behind by the United States at the Da Nang air base and plans to build health centers and a dioxin laboratory in the affected regions.[citation needed] In 2009, he was appointed by President Obama to be Chairman of the Broadcasting Board of Governors, which runs Voice of America, Radio Free Europe, and the other international broadcasts of the U.S. government.[14] He served until January 2012.

Bibliography

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c Robin Pogrebin, "At Work and at Play, Time's Editor Seeks to Keep Magazine Vigorous at 75", New York Times, March 9, 1998.
  2. ^ a b c d Millie Ball, "Steve Jobs' biographer is hometown son Walter Isaacson," The Times-Picayune, December 11, 2011.
  3. ^ Janet Maslin, "The Scale of Einstein, From Faith to Formulas," New York Times, April 9, 2007.
  4. ^ Rene Lynch, "Steve Jobs biography: Release date moves up, skyrockets to No. 1", Los Angeles Times, October 6, 2011.
  5. ^ Brad Stone, "Jobs Is Said to Assist With Book on His Life", New York Times, February 15, 2010.
  6. ^ Eyder Peralta, "Steve Jobs Authorizes Biography; It's Due Out Early 2012", NPR, April 11, 2011.
  7. ^ Kara Swisher, "New Jobs Bio Cover Is All Apple With Pub Date of November", All Things Digital, August 15, 2011.
  8. ^ Walter Isaacson, "The Real Leadership Lessons of Steve Jobs," Harvard Business Review, April 2012.
  9. ^ Madeleine K. Albright, "The World's 100 Most Influential People: 2012", Time, April 18, 2012.
  10. ^ "2013 Benjamin Franklin Medal Presentation To Walter Isaacson", RSA United States, October 2013.
  11. ^ Chris Waddington, "Best-selling biographer Walter Isaacson will deliver prestigious Jefferson Lecture in 2014", Times-Picayune, January 28, 2014.
  12. ^ "President Bush Meets with U.S.-Palestinian Public-Private Partnership", White House press release, December 2007.
  13. ^ "Partners for a New Beginning", state.gov, April 26, 2010.
  14. ^ "President Obama More Key Administration Posts", White House press release, November 18, 2009.

External links

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