One of the nation’s most prestigious honors, the Pulitzer Prize has been awarded by Columbia University since 1917. Named after Hungarian-American journalist and newspaper publisher Joseph Pulitzer, the awards are based on the recommendations of a board of jurors for Journalism, Letters, Music and Drama. Prizes for Jouralism include Investigative Reporting, Explanatory Writing, Commentary, as well as National and International Reporting. Prizes for Letters include Fiction, Non-fiction, Poetry, Biography or Autobiography, and History.
Daniel Gilbert
(A.B. ’05)
For his work in illuminating the murky mismanagement of natural-gas royalties owed to thousands of land owners in southwest Virginia, spurring remedial action by state lawmakers.
Pulitzer Prize for Public Service Journalism, 2010
Rick Atkinson
(A.M. ’76)
An Army at Dawn: The War in North Africa 1942—1943
Pulitzer Prize for History, 2003
David Auburn
(A.B. ’91)
Proof
Pulitzer Prize in Drama, 2001
Mark Strand
Professor in the Committee on Social Thought, 1998–present
Blizzard of One
Pulitzer Prize in Poetry, 1999
Katharine Graham
(A.B. ’38)
Personal History
Pulitzer Prize in Biography or Autobiography, 1998
Philip Roth
(A.M. ’55)
American Pastoral
Pulitzer Prize in Fiction, 1998
Shulamit Ran
William H. Colvin Professor of Music, 1973–present
Symphony
Pulitzer Prize in Music, 1991
Sebastian de Grazia
(A.B. ’44, Ph.D. ’48)
Machiavelli in Hell
Pulitzer Prize in Biography or Autobiography, 1990
Daniel Hertzberg
(A.B. ’68
and James B. Stewart; Wall Street Journal
For their stories about an investment banker charged with insider trading and the critical day that followed the October 19, 1987, stock market crash.
Pulitzer Prize in Explanatory Journalism, 1988
John Hope Franklin
Professor in History, 1964–69; Chairman, Department of History, 1967–70; John Matthews Manly Distinguished Service Professor, 1969–82
George Washington Williams: A Biography
Pulitzer Prize in Biography or Autobiography, 1986
Ann Marie Lipinski
Vice President for Civic Engagement and Senior Lecturer in the College
For Investigative reporting in 1988
Pulitzer Prize in Invesigative Reporting, 1988
Studs Terkel
(Ph.B. ’32, J.D. ’34)
The Good War: An Oral History of World War Two
Pulitzer Prize in General Non-Fiction, 1985
Carl Sagan
(A.B. ’54, S.B. ’55, S.M. ’56, Ph.D. ’60)
The Dragons of Eden
Pulitzer Prize in General Non-Fiction, 1978
Saul Bellow
(X. ’39); Raymond W. and Martha Hilpert Gruner Distinguished Service Professor in the Committee on Social Thought and the Department of English, 1962–1993; Chairman of the Committee on Social Thought, 1970–76
Humboldt’s Gift
Pulitzer Prize in Fiction, 1976
Roger Ebert
(X. ’70); Lecturer at Graham School
For his film criticism during 1974.
Pulitzer Prize in Criticism, 1975
Daniel J. Boorstin
Professor in History, 1944–64; Preston and Sterling Morton Distinguished Service Professor, 1964–69
The Americans: The Democratic Experience
Pulitzer Prize in History, 1974
David S. Broder
(A.B. ’47, A.M. ’51); Washington Post
For his columns during 1972.
Pulitzer Prize in Commentary, 1973
Barbara W. Tuchman
(A.B. ’45, S.B. ’47)
Stilwell and the American Experience in China, 1911–1945
Pulitzer Prize in General Non-Fiction, 1972
Seymour M. Hersh
(A.B. ’58); Dispatch News Service, Washington, D.C.
For his exclusive disclosure of the Vietnam War tragedy at the hamlet of My Lai.
Pulitzer Prize in International Reporting, 1970
George Crumb
Echoes of Time and the River
Pulitzer Prize in Music, 1968
Barbara W. Tuchman
(A.B. ’45, S.B. ’47)
The Guns of August
Pulitzer Prize in General Non-Fiction, 1963
Thornton Wilder
Lecturer, 1930–1937
The Bridge of San Luis Rey
Pulitzer Prize for the Novel, 1943
Thornton Wilder
Lecturer, 1930–1937
The Skin of Our Teeth
Pulitzer Prize in Drama, 1928
Thornton Wilder
Lecturer, 1930–1937
Our Town
Pulitzer Prize in Drama, 1938
Bernadotte E. Schmitt
Andrew MacLeish Distinguished Service Professorship of Modern History, 1925–1946.
The Coming of the War 1914
Pulitzer Prize in History, 1931
Thornton Wilder
Lecturer, 1930–1937.
The Bridge of San Luis Rey
Pulitzer Prize in Fiction, 1928
