Claudia Dreifus

Science journalist and Columbia University professor, Claudia Dreifus, writes for the New York Review of Books, Quanta, CNN and the New York Times.

From 1999 through 2020, she was the interviewer of the Tuesday science section of the New York Times, producing biographical interviews with leading researchers including Stephen Hawking, Elizabeth Blackburn, James Allison, Jane Goodall and Jennifer Doudnal.

When the scientific honor society, Sigma Xi, awarded her an honorary membership, their leadership described her as “a pioneering and original force in making science accessible."

Towards that end, she teaches courses in the Masters of Sustainability Management program of Columbia University to graduate students in the sciences aimed at helping them produce communicative journalism.

Her class, “Writing About Global Science for the International Media,” was one of the first journalism courses for scientists to be offered by an American university. This year, she launched a second course in opinion writing for Columbia’s graduate students in the sciences.

Professor Dreifus is the author of six books, including “Higher Education? How Colleges Are Wasting Our Money and Failing Our Kids and What We Can Do About It.” That book was coauthored with her husband, the political scientist, Andrew Hacker.

Two collections of her magazine interviews, “Scientific Conversations,” and “Interview,” are widely used in journalism courses worldwide.

Professor Dreifus also moderates the “Science Talks,” lecture series at the 92^ndStreet Y.

Going back to an earlier phase in her career, Claudia Dreifus, in 1975, was the first national reporter to cover the coercive sterilization of Mexican American women at L.A. County Medical Center.

The American Society of Journalists and Authors has honored her with a lifetime achievement award.

REACH her at:

Twitter: @claudiadreifus

Sub-specialty:
Media communication of complicated scientific issues