Pulitzer Prize
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.
Tyehimba Jess
AB’91
Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, 2017
Olio, a collection of original verse
For a distinctive work that melds performance art with the deeper art of poetry to explore collective memory and challenge contemporary notions of race and identity
Bret Stephens
AB’95
Pulitzer Prize for Commentary, 2013
For his incisive columns on American foreign policy and domestic politics, often enlivened by a contrarian twist.
Daniel Gilbert
AB’05
Pulitzer Prize for Public Service Journalism, 2010
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.
Rick Atkinson
AM’76
Pulitzer Prize for History, 2003
An Army at Dawn: The War in North Africa 1942—1943
David Auburn
AB’91
Pulitzer Prize for Drama, 2001
Proof
Michael Aronson
AB'85
Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Writing, 1999
Mark Strand
Professor in the Committee on Social Thought, 1998–present
Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, 1999
Blizzard of One
Philip Roth
AM’55
Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, 1998
American Pastoral
Katharine Graham
AB’38
Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography, 1998
Personal History
Shulamit Ran
William H. Colvin Professor of Music, 1973–present
Pulitzer Prize for Music, 1991
Symphony
Sebastian de Grazia
AB’44, PhD’48
Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography, 1990
Machiavelli in Hell
Daniel Hertzberg
AB’68
Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Journalism, 1988
Along with the Wall Street Journal’s James B. Stewart; for their stories about an investment banker charged with insider trading and the critical day that followed the Oct. 19, 1987, stock market crash.
John Hope Franklin
Professor in History, 1964–69; Chairman, Department of History, 1967–70; John Matthews Manly Distinguished Service Professor, 1969–82
Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography, 1986
George Washington Williams: A Biography
Studs Terkel
PhB’32, JD’34
Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction, 1985
The Good War: An Oral History of World War Two
Carl Sagan
AB’54, SB’55, SM’56, PhD’60
Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction, 1978
The Dragons of Eden
Saul Bellow
X’39; Raymond W. and Martha Hilpert Gruner Distinguished Service Professor in the Committee on Social Thought and the Department of English, 1962–93; Chairman of the Committee on Social Thought, 1970–76
Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, 1976
Humboldt's Gift
Roger Ebert
X’70; Lecturer at Graham School
Pulitzer Prize for Criticism, 1975
For his film criticism during 1974.
Daniel J. Boorstin
Professor in History, 1944–64; Preston and Sterling Morton Distinguished Service Professor, 1964–69
Pulitzer Prize for History, 1974
The Americans: The Democratic Experience
David S. Broder
AB’47, AM’51; Washington Post
Pulitzer Prize for Commentary, 1973
For his coluns during 1972.
Seymour M. Hersh
AB’58; Dispatch News Service, Washington, D.C.
Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting, 1970
For his exclusive disclosure of the Vietnam War tragedy at the hamlet of My Lai.
George Crumb
Pulitzer Prize for Music, 1968
Echoes of Time and the River
Thornton Wilder
Lecturer, 1930–37
Pulitzer Prize for Drama, 1942
The Skin of Our Teeth
Thornton Wilder
Lecturer, 1930–37
Pulitzer Prize for Drama, 1938
Our Town
Bernadotte E. Schmitt
Andrew MacLeish Distinguished Service Professorship of Modern History, 1925–46
Pulitzer Prize for History, 1931
The Coming of the War, 1914
Thornton Wilder
Lecturer, 1930–37
Pulitzer Prize for Novel, 1928
The Bridge of San Luis Rey