Tuesday, July 10th, 2007 CUNY Board Names Alterman Distinguished Prof at Brooklyn College
Brooklyn, NY — Called "the most honest and incisive media critic writing today" in the National Catholic Reporter, and author of "the smartest and funniest political journal out there" in the San Francisco Chronicle, Eric Alterman, professor of English at Brooklyn College has been elevated to "Distinguished Professor" by the Board of Trustees at City University of New York (CUNY).
In recommending Professor Alterman for this recognition, Brooklyn College's English Department chair, Professor Ellen Tremper, described him as "one of the very few public intellectuals in America under the age of 60 who is just as comfortable in the university as in the newsroom, as well as in most places in between."
Alterman, who holds a B.A. in History and Government from Cornell University, an M.A. in International Relations from Yale, and a Ph.D. in U.S. History from Stanford University, joined the faculty of Brooklyn College's English Department in 2004 to teach journalism courses. He previously had served as an adjunct professor of journalism at New York University and Columbia, and is a senior fellow of the World Policy Institute at the New School.
In addition to his academic pursuits, Professor Alterman will continue to serve as a media columnist for The Nation, as senior fellow, and "Altercation" blogger for Media Matters for America (formerly at MSNBC.com). The busy professor is also senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, where he writes and edits the "Think Again" column, and is a history consultant to HBO Films.
Professor Alterman is also the best-selling author of a half-dozen books, the latest being When Presidents Lie: A History of Official Deception and Its Consequences (2004). This book caused former Nixon White House attorney John Dean to opine: "I've never read a better explanation of why presidents lie." Other books by Alterman include The Book on Bush: How George W. (Mis)Leads America (2004); What Liberal Media?: The Truth About Bias and the News (2003); Sound and Fury: The Making of the Punditocracy (second edition 2000); It Ain't No Sin to Be Glad You're Alive: The Promise of Bruce Springsteen (1999); and Who Speaks for America? Why Democracy Matters in Foreign Policy (1998). He is currently working on a history of postwar American liberalism.
Alterman is a frequent lecturer and contributor to many of the prominent national publications in the United States and a number in Europe. In recent years he has been a columnist for Worth, Rolling Stone, Mother Jones, and The Sunday Express (London).