Amy Harmon (born September 17, 1968) is an American journalist.
''nytimes.com''. Retrieved on April 8, 2008 She won a Pulitzer Prize as a correspondent for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' covering the impact of science and technology on everyday life. Harmon uses narrative storytelling to illuminate the human dilemmas posed by advances in science. In 2013, she was named a

Guggenheim Fellow Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the a ...

. Her daughter Sasha Matthews is a cartoonist.

Early life and education

Harmon was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

in 1968. She received a B.A. degree in American Studies from the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

and began her career in journalism as the Opinion page editor of the ''

Michigan Daily ''The Michigan Daily'' is the weekly student newspaper of the University of Michigan. Its first edition was published on September 29, 1890. The newspaper is financially and editorially independent of the University's administration and other st ...

'', the university's student newspaper.

Career

Harmon was hired as a reporter for the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...

'' and briefly covered the auto industry from the paper's Detroit bureau, before she moved to Los Angeles and started writing mainly about digital technology and science. In 1997, she joined ''The New York Times''. Three years later she wrote an article about a black internet entrepreneur and his white partner, "A Limited Partnership: The Black Internet Entrepreneur Had the Idea; The White One Became the Venture's Public Face". It was one of ten articles in a series on race relations for which ''The New York Times'' staff won the

Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting This Pulitzer Prize has been awarded since 1942 for a distinguished example of reporting on national affairs in the United States. In its first six years (1942–1947), it was called the Pulitzer Prize for Telegraphic Reporting – National. Li ...

. Harmon won the prize for

Explanatory Reporting Explanatory journalism or explanatory reporting is a form of reporting that attempts to present ongoing news stories in a more accessible manner by providing greater context than would be presented in traditional news sources. The term is often a ...

alone in 2008 for a series titled "The DNA Age" about the ramifications of new genetic technology. The award formally cited "her striking examination of the dilemmas and ethical issues that accompany

DNA testing Genetic testing, also known as DNA testing, is used to identify changes in DNA sequence or chromosome structure. Genetic testing can also include measuring the results of genetic changes, such as RNA analysis as an output of gene expression, o ...

, using human stories to sharpen her reports.""The 2008 Pulitzer Prize Winners: Explanatory Reporting"
The Pulitzer Prizes. Retrieved November 4, 2013. With short biography and reprints of 10 works (''N.Y. Times'' articles March 18 to December 28, 2007). In 2011, Harmon's "Target Cancer" series, about the human testing of a new kind of cancer drug, received the

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 ...

, the journalism award given by the

National Academies of Science The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nati ...

. Her article "Autistic and Seeking a Place in an Adult World" won the 2012 Casey Medal for excellence in reporting on children and families. In 2013, she wrote the short

e-book An ebook (short for electronic book), also known as an e-book or eBook, is a book publication made available in digital form, consisting of text, images, or both, readable on the flat-panel display of computers or other electronic devices. Alt ...

, ''Asperger Love: Searching for Romance When You're Not Wired to Connect'', published in 2013 by New York Times/Byliner.. Asperger Love: A New York Times / Byliner Original by Amy Harmon.

Bibliography

Books

Essays and reporting

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harmon, Amy 1968 births Living people American women journalists American science writers Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Journalism winners Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting winners The New York Times writers The New York Times Pulitzer Prize winners University of Michigan College of Literature, Science, and the Arts alumni Cosmos (Australian magazine) people The Michigan Daily alumni 21st-century American women