John Donvan (born 1955) is a journalist, broadcaster and debate moderator whose bestselling book, ''

In a Different Key The history of autism and autism advocacy are the subjects of the book'' In a Different Key: The Story of Autism'' written by John Donvan and Caren Zucker. The book discusses such issues as the Refrigerator mother theory and the possibility of ...

: The Story of Autism'', was a Pulitzer Prize Finalist. He serves as host of the Intelligence Squared US, a debate series dedicated to raising the level of public discourse in America.

Early life

Donvan attended Regis High School in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. He attended Dartmouth and Columbia University Journalism

Career

Donvan is the host of Intelligence Squared US, a forum that gathers experts to debate propositions concerning serious topics of public interest in

Oxford Union The Oxford Union Society, commonly referred to simply as the Oxford Union, is a debating society in the city of Oxford England, whose membership is drawn primarily from the University of Oxford. Founded in 1823, it is one of Britain's oldest ...

-style debates which may be heard on

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

, and on Fora.TV. Donvan is an avid storyteller, having premiered his first one-man show "Lose the Kid" in Washington, D.C. in September 2013, under the auspices of SpeakeasyDC. Earlier, he worked as a reporter for

ABC News ABC News is the news division of the American broadcast network ABC. Its flagship program is the daily evening newscast ''ABC World News Tonight, ABC World News Tonight with David Muir''; other programs include Breakfast television, morning ...

, including stints as

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

and

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

correspondent and becoming the network's chief

White House correspondent The White House Correspondents' Association (WHCA) is an organization of journalists who cover the White House and the president of the United States. The WHCA was founded on February 25, 1914, by journalists in response to an unfounded rumor t ...

in January 1997 and a regular contributor to ''

Nightline ''Nightline'' (or ''ABC News Nightline'') is ABC News' late-night television news program broadcast on ABC in the United States with a franchised formula to other networks and stations elsewhere in the world. Created by Roone Arledge, the progra ...

'' in 1998. In 2016, Donvan and Caren Zucker, a journalist and television news producer, co-authored ''

: The Story of Autism''. Issues discussed include the

Refrigerator mother theory The Refrigerator mother theory, also known as Bettelheim's theory of autism, is a controversial psychological theory that the cause of autism is a lack of maternal (figurative) warmth. Evidence against the refrigerator mother theory began in t ...

and the possibility of an autism epidemic. One autistic individual covered is

Donald Triplett Donald Gray Triplett (born September 8, 1933) is an American man known for being the first person diagnosed with autism. He was first diagnosed by Leo Kanner, and was labeled as "Case 1". Triplett was noted for his savant abilities, particularly ...

, the first child diagnosed with autism. Another person profiled is psychiatrist and autism pioneer

Leo Kanner Leo Kanner (; born Chaskel Leib Kanner; June 13, 1894 – April 3, 1981) was an Austrian-American psychiatrist, physician, and social activist best known for his work related to autism spectrum disorder. Before working at the Henry Phipps Psychi ...

. The book discusses the debate over the

neurodiversity Neurodiversity refers to diversity in the human brain and cognition, for instance in sociability, learning, attention, mood and other mental functions. It was coined in 1998 by sociologist Judy Singer, who helped popularize the concept alo ...

movement, especially with respect to low-functioning autistics.

Awards

Donvan's broadcast work has won four

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

s, several

Overseas Press Club The Overseas Press Club of America (OPC) was founded in 1939 in New York City by a group of foreign correspondents. The wire service reporter Carol Weld was a founding member, as was the war correspondent Peggy Hull. The club seeks to maintain ...

Awards, two

Cine Golden Eagle Ciné film or cine film is the term commonly used in the UK and historically in the US to refer to the 8 mm, Super 8, 9.5 mm, and 16 mm motion picture film formats used for home movies. It is not normally used to refer t ...

s, and has been honored by the

National Association of Black Journalists The National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) is an organization of African-American journalists, students, and media professionals. Founded in 1975 in Washington, D.C., by 44 journalists, the NABJ's stated purpose is to provide quality p ...

, the Committee of 100, and the Media Action Network for Asian-Americans. As a writer, he was a named finalist for the 2017 Pulitzer Prize in general non-fiction for "In A Different Key: The Story of Autism," and also a finalist for the 2011 National Magazine Award for his profile of Donald Triplett. Both works were co-authored with Caren Zucker.

References

External links

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John Donvan Correspondent Biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Donvan, John 1955 births Living people American male journalists Journalists from New York City Dartmouth College alumni Place of birth missing (living people) ABC News personalities Regis High School (New York City) alumni Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism alumni