Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication
Arizona State University
Arizona State University
Professor Ed Sylvester
Ed Sylvester teaches science writing and the core undergraduate and graduate news courses. As a science writer, he has written four books for popular audiences on subjects ranging from the prospects for genetic engineering — as the field was first developing in 1983 — to the efforts of neuroscience doctors to discover the secrets of the brain in order to rescue their most seriously ill patients in his latest book, “Back From The Brink,” published in January 2004. He has moderated a popular presentation with Barrow Neurological Institute physicians on new developments in stroke treatment and brain health. He has written magazine articles for several national publications, op-ed pieces for USA Today, and book reviews for The New York Times. Sylvester joined the ASU faculty in 1980 from the Los Angeles Times, where he was San Diego County government reporter. Before going to the Times, he had worked as a reporter and editor for 10 years at newspapers, including the Arizona Daily Star, the (Newark, N.J.) Star Ledger, The (Bergen County, N.J.) Record, and The (Paterson, N.J.) Morning Call. At ASU, he was a Knight Fellow during the program’s inaugural year of 1995, teaching computer-assisted reporting at The Oshkosh (Wis.) Northwestern. He received a publishing grant from the Freedom Forum in 1996 to write a series of articles on the U.S. Epidemic Intelligence Service. He received the Burlington Faculty Achievement Award for teaching in 1991. Earlier, he was founding co-director of the Cronkite School’s seminars for journalists on computer-assisted reporting, which were among the first on the subject. Sylvester holds a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from Princeton University and a master's in creative writing from City College of New York. He was a member of Joseph Heller’s fiction workshop at CCNY. |
