Thomas Friedman

Thomas Friedman graduated Summa Cum Laude from Brandeis University in 1975 with a degree in Mediterranean Studies. He attended St. Antony's College, Oxford University, on a Marshall Scholarship and in 1978 received a Masters degree in Modern Middle East Studies.

Friedman joined The New York Times in 1981 as a financial reporter specializing in OPEC and oil-related news. After serving as Chief Diplomatic, Chief White House, and International Economics Correspondent, he became Foreign Affairs Columnist in 1995.

For his coverage of the Middle East, Mr. Friedman was awarded the 1983 Pulitzer Prize for international reporting (from Lebanon) and the 1988 Pulitzer Prize for international reporting (from Israel). He received the 2002 Pulitzer Prize for Distinguished Commentary for "his clarity of vision...in commenting on the worldwide impact of the terrorist threat." In 2004, he was awarded the Overseas Press Club Award for lifetime achievement and the honorary title, Order of the British Empire (OBE), by Queen Elizabeth II.

Friedman is the author of From Beirut to Jerusalem (1989); The Lexus and the Olive Tree (1999); Longitudes and Attitudes: Exploring the World After September 11 (2000); and most recently, The World is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century (2005), which received the inaugural Goldman Sachs/Financial Times Business Book of the Year Award.