Robert William Greene, Sr. (July 12, 1929 – April 10, 2008) was a pioneering investigative journalist, who uncovered corruption in

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

after a journalist,

Don Bolles Donald Fifield Bolles (July 10, 1928 – June 13, 1976) was an American investigative reporter for ''The Arizona Republic'' who was known for his coverage of organized crime in the area, especially by the Chicago Outfit. His murder in a car bom ...

, was murdered there and twice helped

Newsday ''Newsday'' is an American daily newspaper that primarily serves Nassau and Suffolk counties on Long Island, although it is also sold throughout the New York metropolitan area. The slogan of the newspaper is "Newsday, Your Eye on LI", and f ...

win the

Pulitzer Prize for Public Service The Pulitzer Prize for Public Service is one of the fourteen American Pulitzer Prizes annually awarded for journalism. It recognizes a distinguished example of meritorious public service by a newspaper or news site through the use of its journalis ...

. He spent 37 years as a reporter and editor at ''Newsday''.

Biography

Early life

He was born on July 12, 1929, in

Jamaica, Queens Jamaica is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Queens. It is mainly composed of a large commercial and retail area, though part of the neighborhood is also residential. Jamaica is bordered by Hollis to the east; St. Albans, Springfi ...

. He won his first

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 1970, for exposing land scandals on

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...

. Greene's daughter, Lea Greene, was murdered in 1989 during a break-in at her home.

Education

Greene attended

Fordham University Fordham University () is a Private university, private Jesuit universities, Jesuit research university in New York City. Established in 1841 and named after the Fordham, Bronx, Fordham neighborhood of the The Bronx, Bronx in which its origina ...

for two years.

Career

Greene worked for ''

The Jersey Journal ''The Jersey Journal'' is a daily newspaper, published from Monday through Saturday, covering news and events throughout Hudson County, New Jersey. ''The Journal'' is a sister paper to ''The Star-Ledger'' of Newark, ''The Times'' of Trenton and ...

'' for many years as a reporter. Prior to working for ''Newsday'', he worked as an investigator for the

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 ...

Anti-Crime Committee. He joined ''Newsday'' in 1955. While working here, he worked various editing positions. Greene was most famous for his investigative work in what became known as the Arizona Project. The Arizona Project revealed how ''

The Arizona Republic ''The Arizona Republic'' is an American daily newspaper published in Phoenix. Circulated throughout Arizona, it is the state's largest newspaper. Since 2000, it has been owned by the Gannett newspaper chain. Copies are sold at $2 daily or at $3 ...

'' reporter, Don Bolles, was killed in a car bombing. Greene was a member of the Investigative Reporters and Editors, a national organization he helped start. He retired from ''Newsday'' in 1992. Upon retiring, he then began teaching courses in journalism at

Hofstra University Hofstra University is a private university in Hempstead, New York. It is Long Island's largest private university. Hofstra originated in 1935 as an extension of New York University (NYU) under the name Nassau College – Hofstra Memorial of Ne ...

and

State University of New York at Stony Brook Stony Brook University (SBU), officially the State University of New York at Stony Brook, is a public research university in Stony Brook, New York. Along with the University at Buffalo, it is one of the State University of New York system's ...

Awards and honors

*1970- Pulitzer Prize for ''Newsday'' under Greene for his work exposing land scandals where politicians were investing in properties and increasing property values. *1974- Pulitzer Prize for his work on "The Heroin Trail"

Family

Greene was the son of Francis, a lawyer, and Mary Clancy Greene. He was married to his wife Kathleen and together they had a son and four grandchildren. Their son's name is Robert Jr. The family lived in

Kings Park, New York Kings Park is a Hamlet (New York), hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in the Smithtown, New York, Town of Smithtown, in Suffolk County, New York, Suffolk County, on Long Island, in New York (state), New York, United States. The population wa ...

Death

Greene died on April 10, 2008, aged 78 in

Smithtown, New York Smithtown is a town in Suffolk County, New York on the North Shore of Long Island. It is part of the New York metropolitan area. The population was 116,296 at the 2020 Census. The census-designated place (CDP) of Smithtown lies within the tow ...

. The cause of his death was from heart failure. Survivors include Greene's wife, Kathleen Greene, son, Robert Greene Jr., and great nephew, Caleb Greene. Robert Greene Jr. said one of his father's last wishes was to see a journalism boot camp for high school journalists established at Stony Brook University, where the award-winning journalist had most recently been teaching courses, and in 2009, Stony Brook established the Robert W. Greene Summer Institute for High School Journalists.

References

1929 births 2008 deaths American male journalists Journalists from New York City People from Jamaica, Queens People from Kings Park, New York 20th-century American journalists {{US-journalist-1920s-stub