Gareth Cook (born September 15, 1969) is an American journalist and editor. He was awarded a

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made h ...

in 2005 for “explaining, with clarity and humanity, the complex scientific and ethical dimensions of stem cell research.” Cook is a contributing writer for ''

The New York Times Magazine ''The New York Times Magazine'' is an American Sunday magazine Supplement (publishing), supplement included with the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times''. It features articles longer than those typically in the newspaper and has attracted man ...

'', is also the series editor of ''The Best American Infographics'' and editor of Mind Matters, Scientific American's neuroscience blog. His writing has appeared in ''The New York Times Magazine'', ''The Boston Globe'', ''Wired'', and ''Scientific American''.

Career

Cook graduated from

Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...

in 1991 with degrees in Mathematical Physics and International Relations. He was an assistant editor at

Foreign Policy A State (polity), state's foreign policy or external policy (as opposed to internal or domestic policy) is its objectives and activities in relation to its interactions with other states, unions, and other political entities, whether bilaterall ...

, a scholarly journal based in Washington, DC. He then worked as a reporter at U.S. News & World Report, and then as an editor at the

Washington Monthly ''Washington Monthly'' is a bimonthly, nonprofit magazine of United States politics and government that is based in Washington, D.C. The magazine is known for its annual ranking of American colleges and universities, which serves as an alterna ...

. He was the news editor of ''The

Boston Phoenix ''The Phoenix'' (stylized as ''The Phœnix'') was the name of several alternative weekly periodicals published in the United States of America by Phoenix Media/Communications Group of Boston, Massachusetts, including the ''Portland Phoenix'' an ...

'', an alternative weekly based in Boston, from 1996–1999. In 1999, he started at ''

The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...

'', and worked for seven years as the paper's science reporter, covering a variety of topics, including biology, physics, paleontology, archeology, the role of women in science and scientific fraud. He was one of the founders of ''The Boston Globes Ideas section, and then served as its editor from 2007 to 2011. He is now freelance writer. His stories have twice appeared in ''Best American Science and Nature Writing'': "The Autism Advantage," from the ''New York Times Magazine'', and �
Untangling the Mystery of the Inca
” from ''Wired''. He wrote a story arguing that Japan did not surrender at the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

because of the atomic bomb.

Awards

*Pulitzer Prize (2005) *

National Academies Communication Award The National Academies Communication Award was an annual prize bestowed in recognition of creative works that help the public understand topics in science, engineering or medicine. The awards were established in 2003 and administered by the Keck Fut ...

(2005) *Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Ocean Science Journalism Award (2005)

Personal life

He lives in Jamaica Plain, Mass., with his wife, Amanda, and his two sons, Aidan and Oliver. In 2003 he revealed that he is dyslexic.

References

1969 births Living people 20th-century American journalists American male journalists The Boston Globe people Brown University alumni Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Journalism winners Scientific American people {{US-journalist-1960s-stub