Ira H. Berkow

Ira Berkow (MSJ65) is a member of the inaugural class of the Medill Hall of Achievement of 1997.  

Berkow was a finalist for the 1988 Pulitzer Prize in Commentary for  “thoughtful commentary on the sports scene.” He shared the 2001 Pulitzer for National Reporting for his article “The Minority Quarterback” in The New York Times series “How Race Is Lived in America.”

He served as a sports columnist and feature writer for The New York Times beginning in 1981. Before arriving at the Times, Berkow was the sports editor and sports columnist for Newspaper Enterprise Association for nine years. He began his writing career as a reporter for the Minneapolis Tribune. He has written several books, including “Summers in the Bronx: Attila The Hun And Other Yankee Stories,” “Full Swing: Hits, Runs, and Errors in a Writer's Life,” and “To the Hoop: The Seasons of a Basketball Life.”