Tom Friedman

Vocation

Notable

American journalist and three-time Pulitzer Prize winner, Friedman is the author of several books on political, economic and cultural issuess. Friedman graduated from Brandeis University with a degree in Mediterranean Studies and went on to obtain his Master in Philosophy from Oxford University in 1978 with a concentration on Modern Middle East Studies. In 1981 he joined the New York Times. A year later he was named Bureau Chief for Beirut and two years after that he became Israel Bureau chief in Jerusalem where he would stay until 1988. During that time he won two Pullitzer Prizes, in 1982 and in 1983, both for international reporting. His book "From Beirut to Jerusalem" was published in 1989 and would earn him a National Book Award for non-fiction in 1989. His next book, "The Lexus and the Olive Tree" (2000) won the 2000 Overseas Press Club award for best nonfiction book on foreign policy. Since 1995 Friedman has been the New York Times' foreign affairs columnist and he has continued to write books and earn awards. In 2004, he received the Overseas Press Club Award for lifetime achievement was given the title Order of the British Empire (OBE), by Queen Elizabeth II. His work on globalization, "The World is Flat: A Brief History of the 21st Century," was released in April 2005 and won Goldman Sachs/Financial Times Business Book of the Year award. He followed it up in September 2008 with "Hot, Flat, and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution--and How It Can Renew America." Friedman and his wife have two daughters. Link to Wikipedia biography