Nan Robertson

Distinguished Alumnae Award Recipient, 1991

Medill BSJ 1948

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Robertson was a cultural reporter for The New York Times for more than 30 years. She won a 1983 Pulitzer Prize for feature writing for her harrowing account of an attack of toxic shock syndrome that nearly took her life, which appeared as a cover story in The New York Times Sunday Magazine. The New York Times hired her to write about fashion and women’s news in London. In 1955 she moved to New York to cover women’s news for The Times. From 1963 to 1971, she was a Times Washington correspondent, covering the White House, Congress, presidential campaigns, voting and more. From 1972 to 1975 Robertson was based in Paris, covering France and neighboring countries and the Turkish Invasion of Cyprus. From 1975 to 1982, she reported for the Living and Style Sections. She was a member of the inaugural class of the Medill Hall of Achievement in 1977. Her 1992 book, “The Girls in the Balcony: Women, Men and The New York Times,” focused on her fight for workplace parity by female employees of The Times.”