Rick Atkinson is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 journalist

Journalist

A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...

 and author

Author

An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...

 whose contributions led to four Pulitzer Prize

Pulitzer Prize

The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...

s.

Life

Atkinson was born in Munich

Munich

Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...

. His father was an United States Army

United States Army

The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...

 officer

Officer (armed forces)

An officer is a member of an armed force or uniformed service who holds a position of authority. Commissioned officers derive authority directly from a sovereign power and, as such, hold a commission charging them with the duties and responsibilities of a specific office or position...

 and he grew up at military post

Military base

A military base is a facility directly owned and operated by or for the military or one of its branches that shelters military equipment and personnel, and facilitates training and operations. In general, a military base provides accommodations for one or more units, but it may also be used as a...

s. He earned his bachelor degree from East Carolina University

East Carolina University

East Carolina University is a public, coeducational, engaged doctoral/research university located in Greenville, North Carolina, United States. Named East Carolina University by statute and commonly known as ECU or East Carolina, the university is the largest institution of higher learning in...

 in 1974 and a master of art degree from the University of Chicago

University of Chicago

The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...

 in 1976. His first reporting job was at The Morning Sun

The Morning Sun (Pittsburg)

The Morning Sun is a daily newspaper published in Pittsburg, Kansas, United States, and owned by GateHouse Media since 2007.-History:Not all sources completely agree on exact dates, but the Morning Sun traces its origin to the Pittsburg Headlight, a weekly which began publication in 1885, under the...

in Pittsburg, Kansas

Pittsburg, Kansas

Pittsburg is a city in Crawford County, in southeastern Kansas, United States. It is the most populous city in Crawford County and in southeastern Kansas. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 20,233.-History:...

 He started working at the Kansas City Times

Kansas City Times

The Kansas City Times was a morning newspaper in Kansas City, Missouri, that was published from 1867 to 1990.The morning Kansas City Times, under ownership of afternoon The Kansas City Star, won two Pulitzer Prizes and was actually bigger than its parent when its name was changed to the...

in 1977. He won the 1982 Pulitzer Prize

1982 Pulitzer Prize

-Journalism awards:*Public Service:**The Detroit News, for exposing a cover-up in the U.S. Navy, which led to reforms in the Navy.*Local General or Spot News Reporting:...

 for national reporting for articles including a series on the West Point Class of 1966. He also contributed to the Times overall effort which won it another Pulitzer Prize the same year for the coverage of the Hyatt Regency walkway collapse

Hyatt Regency walkway collapse

The Hyatt Regency hotel walkway collapse was a collapse of an interior suspended skywalk system that occurred on July 17, 1981, in Kansas City, Missouri, United States, killing 114 people and injuring 216 others during a tea dance. At the time, it was the deadliest structural collapse in U.S...

.

In 1983 he worked for The Washington Post

The Washington Post

The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...

where he covered The Pentagon

The Pentagon

The Pentagon is the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense, located in Arlington County, Virginia. As a symbol of the U.S. military, "the Pentagon" is often used metonymically to refer to the Department of Defense rather than the building itself.Designed by the American architect...

 and the 1984 Presidential election and was national editor for two years. He went on book leave in 1988 to finish The Long Gray Line, which he had begun reporting on in Kansas City

Kansas City, Missouri

Kansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...

. He returned to the Post in 1989 and was the paper's lead reporter in the 1991 Gulf War

Gulf War

The Persian Gulf War , commonly referred to as simply the Gulf War, was a war waged by a U.N.-authorized coalition force from 34 nations led by the United States, against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion and annexation of Kuwait.The war is also known under other names, such as the First Gulf...

. He went on leave again to finish a book about the war Crusade: The Untold Story of the Persian Gulf War. In 1993 he returned to the Post as its Berlin

Berlin

Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...

 bureau covering conflicts in Bosnia

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnia and Herzegovina , sometimes called Bosnia-Herzegovina or simply Bosnia, is a country in Southern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula. Bordered by Croatia to the north, west and south, Serbia to the east, and Montenegro to the southeast, Bosnia and Herzegovina is almost landlocked, except for the...

 and Somalia

Somalia

Somalia , officially the Somali Republic and formerly known as the Somali Democratic Republic under Socialist rule, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. Since the outbreak of the Somali Civil War in 1991 there has been no central government control over most of the country's territory...

. The Post won the 1999 Pulitzer Prize

1999 Pulitzer Prize

- Journalism awards :*Public Service:**The Washington Post, for its series that identified and analyzed patterns of reckless gunplay by city police officers who had little training or supervision.*Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Reporting:...

 for public service for a series conceived by Atkinson on shootings by the District of Columbia police department.

He won the 2003 Pulitzer Prize

2003 Pulitzer Prize

-Journalism awards:-Letters, Drama and Music Awards:-External links:* . The New York Times.* . The New York Times.* . The New York Times....

 for history for his book An Army at Dawn: The War in North Africa, 1942–1943, which was followed by the second volume in what Atkinson calls his "Liberation trilogy", The Day of Battle: The War in Sicily and Italy, 1943–1944. While at work on the third volume, he received the $100,000 Pritzker Military Library Literature Award for Lifetime Achievement in Military Writing

Pritzker Military Library

The Pritzker Military Library is a research library for the study of military history in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded in 2003 by COL James N. Pritzker, IL ARNG to be a non-partisan institution for the study of "the citizen soldier as an essential element for the preservation of...

.

Atkinson served as the Omar N. Bradley Chair of Strategic Leadershiphttp://www.carlisle.army.mil/usawc/dclm/bradleychair.htm at the US Army War College and Dickinson College

Dickinson College

Dickinson College is a private, residential liberal arts college in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Originally established as a Grammar School in 1773, Dickinson was chartered September 9, 1783, five days after the signing of the Treaty of Paris, making it the first college to be founded in the newly...

 in 2004 and 2005. He was a Fall 2009 Axel Springer

Axel Springer

Axel Springer , was a German journalist and the founder and owner of the Axel Springer AG publishing company.-Early life:...

 Berlin Prize

Berlin Prize

The Berlin Prize is a residential fellowship at the Hans Arnhold Center, awarded by the American Academy in Berlin.- Fellows of the American Academy in Berlin :-References:*http://www.americanacademy.de/home/about-us/hans-arnhold-center/...

 Fellow, at the American Academy in Berlin

American Academy in Berlin

The American Academy in Berlin is a research and cultural institution in Berlin whose stated mission is to foster a greater understanding and dialogue between the people of the United States and the people of Germany.The American Academy was founded in September 1994 by a group of prominent...

. He is currently an advisory fellow of the Barsanti Military History Center at the University of North Texas

University of North Texas

The University of North Texas is a public institution of higher education and research in Denton. Founded in 1890, UNT is part of the University of North Texas System. As of the fall of 2010, the University of North Texas, Denton campus, had a certified enrollment of 36,067...

.

Atkinson's book In the Company of Soldiers: A Chronicle of Combat is about the Iraq War. He was embedded with the 101st Airborne Division

101st Airborne Division (United States)

The 101st Airborne Division—the "Screaming Eagles"—is a U.S. Army modular light infantry division trained for air assault operations. During World War II, it was renowned for its role in Operation Overlord, the D-Day landings on 6 June 1944, in Normandy, France, Operation Market Garden, the...

 for two months and had extensive contact with Gen. David Petraeus

David Petraeus

David Howell Petraeus is the current Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, sworn in on September 6, 2011. Prior to his assuming the directorship of the CIA, Petraeus was a four-star general serving over 37 years in the United States Army. His last assignments in the Army were as commander...

.

External links

• Rick Atkinson interview on Counterpoint Radio with Marcus W. Orr Center for the Humanities at the University of Memphis.
• Publisher's website for An Army at Dawn
• Pulitzer Biography in 2003
• Reviews of An Army At Dawn and The Day of Battle (Advanced Readers Copy)
• Interview on In the Company of Soldiers at the Pritzker Military Library
  Pritzker Military Library
  The Pritzker Military Library is a research library for the study of military history in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded in 2003 by COL James N. Pritzker, IL ARNG to be a non-partisan institution for the study of "the citizen soldier as an essential element for the preservation of...
  
  
• Interview on The Day of Battle