John Rennie (editor)
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John Rennie (born 1959) is an American science writer who was the seventh editor in chief of ''
Scientific American ''Scientific American'', informally abbreviated ''SciAm'' or sometimes ''SA'', is an American popular science magazine. Many famous scientists, including Albert Einstein and Nikola Tesla, have contributed articles to it. In print since 1845, it ...
'' magazine. After leaving ''Scientific American'' in 2009, he began writing for '' Public Library of Science (PLoS) Blogs''. Rennie has also been involved with several television programs and podcasts as well as multiple writing projects, including his latest position as a deputy editor on the staff of '' Quanta Magazine''.


Biography

John Rennie was born in 1959, near Boston, MA. In 1981, he completed a
Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University o ...
in
Biology Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary i ...
at
Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...
. Rennie then worked for the better part of a decade in a laboratory at
Harvard Medical School Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the graduate medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical Area of Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is one of the oldest medical schools in the United States and is consi ...
before commencing his career as a science writer and editor. He began his editorial career with ''Scientific American'' in 1989 when he joined its editorial board, becoming editor-in-chief in 1994. Rennie has several published articles in ''Scientific American'', starting with the September 1989 issue and as recently as the December 2013 issue. Rennie has had a varied career in addition to his time as an editor at ''Scientific American'', including positions in higher education, as an author, and as a television host.


Career


''Scientific American''

Rennie joined the Board of Editors at ''Scientific American'' in 1989. In 1994 he was installed as the 7th editor-in-chief for ''Scientific American'', serving in that role until 2009. While editor-in-chief, Rennie was involved in several projects including the launch of its website, authoring articles, and contributing to ''Scientific American'''s podcasts, ''Science Talk'' and ''60-Second Science''.


Television

Rennie has appeared in, or contributed in some other way to, several television programs since the mid-1990s: *
A&E Networks A&E Networks (stylized as A+E NETWORKS) is an American multinational broadcasting company that is a 50–50 joint venture between Hearst Communications and The Walt Disney Company through its General Entertainment Content division. The company ...
' ''Scams, Schemes, and Scoundrels'' *
CNN CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...
's ''
Anderson Cooper 360° ''Anderson Cooper 360°'' (commonly shortened to either ''AC-360'' or ''360'') is an American television news show on CNN and CNN International, hosted by CNN journalist and news anchor Anderson Cooper. Since May 20, 2019, ''360°'' has been b ...
'' *
History History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...
's '' Weird U.S.'' and '' MysteryQuest'' * National Geographic's '' Naked Science'' *
The Weather Channel The Weather Channel (TWC) is an American pay television channel owned by Weather Group, LLC, a subsidiary of Allen Media Group. The channel's headquarters are in Atlanta, Georgia. Launched on May 2, 1982, the channel broadcasts weather foreca ...
's ''Hacking the Planet'' and ''The Truth About Twisters'' *
Travel Channel Travel Channel (stylized as Trvl Channel since 2018) is an American pay television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, which had previously owned the channel from 1997 to 2007. The channel is headquartered in New York, New York, United S ...
's '' Mysteries at the Museum'' *
Science Science is a systematic endeavor that Scientific method, builds and organizes knowledge in the form of Testability, testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earli ...
's ''Space's Deepest Secrets''


Other writing

The blog that Rennie authored for PLoS, ''The Gleaming Retort'', primarily focuses on
science writing Science journalism conveys reporting about science to the public. The field typically involves interactions between scientists, journalists, and the public. Origins Modern science journalism dates back to '' Digdarshan'' (means showing the d ...
, climate, technology, and health. It was active from September 2010 through December 2014. Rennie wrote the blog ''The Savvy Scientist'' for SmartPlanet between November 2011 and September 2012 and penned a handful of articles for the
General Electric General Electric Company (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892, and incorporated in New York state and headquartered in Boston. The company operated in sectors including healthcare, aviation, power, renewable en ...
sponsored online magazine, Txchnologist, in 2011 and 2012. In 2017, Rennie joined the staff of ''Quanta Magazine'' as a deputy editor.


Higher education

Rennie is listed as adjunct faculty for the graduate Science, Health and Environmental Reporting Program at New York University's
Arthur L. Carter Arthur L. Carter (born December 24, 1931) is an American investment banker, publisher, and artist. Biography Born to a American Jews, Jewish family, Carter graduated from Brown University in 1953 with a degree in French literature. He served i ...
Journalism Institute. Rennie also appears as core faculty for
Beakerhead Beakerhead is a multi-day festival held every September in Calgary, Alberta, Canada that combines the arts/culture sectors with the science/technology sectors to encourage collaboration, innovation, and science education through interactive art exhi ...
's SciComm Lab.


Awards

In 2000, Rennie was awarded the
Carl Sagan Award for Public Understanding of Science The Carl Sagan Award for Public Understanding of Science is an award presented by the Council of Scientific Society Presidents (CSSP) to individuals who have become “concurrently accomplished as researchers and/or educators, and as widely recogni ...
by the Council of Scientific Society Presidents. In September 2003, he was awarded the Navigator Award from
Potomac Institute for Policy Studies The Potomac Institute for Policy Studies is an independent, 501(c)(3), not-for-profit public policy research institute located in Arlington, Virginia. The institute was founded in , shortly after the Congressional Office of Technology Assessment ...
.


Selected articles

* * * * * * * * * * * * *


References


External links


Faculty profile
NYU
JohnRennie.net
Official website
The Gleaming Retort
Official Blog on
PLoS PLOS (for Public Library of Science; PLoS until 2012 ) is a nonprofit publisher of open-access journals in science, technology, and medicine and other scientific literature, under an open-content license. It was founded in 2000 and laun ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rennie, John 1959 births Living people Scientific American people Harvard Medical School people