A two-time Pulitzer Prize winner and University of Wisconsin alum will be sharing his experiences and knowledge with students next week.
Walt Bogdanich, a New York Times investigative reporter and editor, is this fall's UW Public Affairs Writer in Residence and will be on campus the week of Nov. 5
Before Bogdanich worked for the Times, he gained experience reporting for the TV magazine "60 Minutes" and ABC News, and was an investigative reporter for The Wall Street Journal.
His extensive experience has earned him two Pulitzer Prizes — most recently in 2005, for national reporting on his journalistic series "Death on the Tracks," which documented fatal accidents on U.S. railways.
Dennis Chaptman of UW Communications said past writers in residence have told him they have learned just as much from students as the students have learned from them throughout the interactive opportunity.
"Bogdanich is a guy who struck me as being a meticulous reporter with a great eye for detail," Chaptman said. "I just think that it's not every day that students can sit down and pick the brain of a Pulitzer Prize winner, and this program offers this kind of contact in one-on-one and small group settings."
La Follette School of Public Affairs Outreach Director Terry Shelton said Bogdanich is a qualified candidate for this fall's Writer in Residence because he successfully exposes the watchdog role that journalists play in a diverse range of issues.
Next week, Bogdanich will be lecturing in numerous political science and journalism classes, hosting brown bag lunches and holding informal discussions open to students and the Madison community.
"The best thing about going to college is taking advantage of people who come in and speak — like Walt Bogdanich," Shelton said. "Students kick themselves later on for not having taken advantage of people who come through the university. If you ask people after graduation, most wish they would have taken advantage of more of those great speakers."
Modeled after the Business and Science Writer in Residence programs, the Public Affairs Writer in Residence program originated in 2001.
The Writer in Residence programs were expanded to include public affairs writers due to more students in the UW School of Journalism and Mass Communication studying public policy matters and how to cover political issues.
"The program provides fantastic opportunities for students to meet and interact with journalists who are nationally known," Chaptman said. "These professionals shed light on public affairs and journalism issues in a way that only people who work in [the] trenches can."
The partnership between the UW School of Journalism and Mass Communication and the La Follette School of Public Affairs sponsors the Public Affairs Writer in Residence Program, bringing one writer each semester to the Madison campus.
