PRESENT ADDRESS
2503 Manhattan Ave.
Baltimore, Maryland 21215
Phone: (410) 664-3444
Fax: (410) 664-6060
E-mail: shurkin@mac.com

PROFESSIONAL SUMMARY
I am a journalist, science writer and historian with an illustrious career in journalism and in public affairs for world-renowned educational institutions. My awards have ranged from sharing a Pulitzer Prize to writing the Best Children’s Science Book award.
I have taught journalism and science journalism at Stanford University and at two University of California campuses, have done corporate histories, consulted and written two definitive works of non-fiction. I am science writer emeritus at Stanford University.

HONORS AND AWARDS
Pulitzer Prize (1979) - Local Reporting shared as member of the team and as one of three lead writers in coverage of
     Three Mile Island, The Philadelphia Inquirer.
National Endowment for the Humanities (1979-1980) - Professional Journalism, Stanford University (Knight Fellowship).
Best Children’s Science Book (1979) - Jupiter, The Star That Failed, National Association of Science Teachers.
Aviation & Space Writers Award (1976 & 1977)
Mott Education Writers Award (1978) - Second Place

BOOKS

The Tides of Newtok, How Global Warming is Changing Life in Alaska and Why Everybody Else Better Pay Attention, in process.

Broken Genius: A Biography of William B. Shockley (Macmillan 2007, paperback 2008)

Incredible Voyage: Exploring the Human Body, National Geographic Society (chapter, co-authored), 1998

Pixel Power: A History of Evans & Sutherland

Am I Crazy or is My Shrink: Finding the Help I Need, Oxford University Press, 1998. [Trade paper: A Consumers Guide
     to Psychotherapy]

Terman’s Kids; How the Gifted Grow Up, Little, Brown, 1992

Critical Choices: A Consumer’s Guide to Intensive Care, W.H. Freeman, 1988 [Paperback 1990].

Engines of the Mind: A History of the Computer, W.W. Norton, 1984; Washington Square Press, 1985. Japanese edition, 1989. Second edition, trade paperback, Norton, 1996.

The Invisible Fire: The Eradication of Smallpox, G. Putnam’s Sons, 1979. [Reissued by iUniverse 2002]

Helix (fiction, co-authored), W.W. Norton, 1979, Pocket Books, 1981.

Jupiter, The Star That Failed, Westminster Press, 1978.

Update: Report on Planet Earth, Westminster Press, 1977.

MAGAZINES

I have been published in scores of magazines through the years, most recently in the November edition of Scientific American Mind.

PREVIOUS EMPLOYMENT

Snedden Chair in Journalism, University of Alaska Fairbanks (2007-2008)

Institute for Physical Science, senior writer (2006-2007)

Staff reporter (part-time) Baltimore Jewish Times (2004)

Senior Editor, HopkinsHealth, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, 2000-2003

Freelance writer, 1993-1999

Contributing Editor, Interactive Age.

Science writer emeritus, Stanford University News Service, 1980-1993

Lecturer in Communication, Stanford University 1980-84

Founder, science journalism internship program, Stanford University, 1982-93

Visiting Lecturer, Journalism, University of California at Santa Cruz, 1984, 1986. Lecturer UC Berkeley 1985

Science Specialist, KRON-TV, San Francisco, 1984.

Drexel Fellow, Drexel University, Philadelphia, 1984.

Science writer, editor, The Philadelphia Inquirer, 1971-1980.

National correspondent, editor, Reuters, New York, 1968-71

CONSULTANT & WRITER

Oracle Corp., Redwood Shores, Calif.

Evans & Sutherland Computer Corp., Salt Lake City, Utah

American Heart Association

Koret Foundation

MEMBERSHIPS
Authors Guild
National Association of Science Writers (Executive Board, 1993-2002)- founding chairman
Freelance Committee

EDUCATION

Emory University, Atlanta, B.A., Humanities