 |
Alexandra Robbins | |
|---|---|
 Robbins in 2023 | |
| Born | United States |
| Language | English |
| Nationality | American |
| Citizenship | United States |
| Alma mater | Yale University |
| Genre | Non-fiction, journalism |
Alexandra Robbins is a journalist, lecturer, and author. Her books focus on young adults, education, and modern college life. Five of her books have been New York Times Bestsellers. [1]
She graduated from Walt Whitman High School in Bethesda, Maryland in 1994, and summa cum laude from Yale University in 1998. She was editor-in-chief of her high school newspaper, the Black & White. [2]
She has also written for a variety of publications, including Vanity Fair , The New Yorker , Los Angeles Times , The Atlantic Monthly , The Washington Post , USA Today , Cosmopolitan , and Salon.com. Robbins has appeared in the media, such as 60 Minutes , The Oprah Winfrey Show , Coast To Coast AM , The Today Show , Paula Zahn Now , The View , The Colbert Report , CBS Early Show , The Smart Woman Survival Guide , The O'Reilly Factor , and Anderson Cooper 360° , and networks including CNN, NPR, the BBC, MSNBC, CNBC, C-SPAN, and the History Channel.
Robbins has won several awards for her writing. Her book The Geeks Shall Inherit The Earth won the Best Nonfiction Book of the Year Award in the 2011 Goodreads Choice Awards. [3] Robbins also received a Books for a Better Life Award in 2012. [4]
In 2014, Robbins was the winner of the John Bartlow Martin Award for Public Interest Magazine Journalism. Her article, "Children Are Dying," investigated a shortage of critical nutrients that premature babies and other patients need to survive. One week after Washingtonian Magazine published Robbins’ article, the FDA agreed to import the nutrients from other countries. [5]
On May 28, 2015, Robbins wrote a New York Times op-ed about inadequate nurse staffing at hospitals in the United States. [6]
Along with author Jane Mayer, she broke the story about President Bush's unimpressive college grades and SATs in The New Yorker . [7] The article got such media attention that reporters called to interview her and asked what her SAT scores were. She has not made her scores known publicly. [8] Robbins was a member of Scroll and Key, [9] one of Yale's secret societies, and has written a book, "Secrets of the Tomb", a social history of societies at Yale, featuring Skull and Bones. The book's 2002 release was timely given the membership of George W. Bush and George H. W. Bush in Bones, and then more so when John Kerry, another member, was the Democratic Party's 2004 presidential nominee.
Robbins was a guest on the satirical program The Colbert Report on August 9 of 2006, during which Colbert challenged claims Robbins makes in The Overachievers, citing some observations of Robbins' own experience, while she countered with observations about systemic problems resulting from a highly competitive system, the cheating that is endemic to competition and problems with standardized testing, arguing that the aforementioned conditions teach misplaced values. A video of this interview is available from Comedy Central. [10]
Skull and Bones, also known as The Order, Order 322 or The Brotherhood of Death, is an undergraduate senior secret student society at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. The oldest senior-class society at the university, Skull and Bones has become a cultural institution known for its powerful alumni and various conspiracy theories. It is one of the "Big Three" societies at Yale, the other two being Scroll and Key and Wolf's Head. The society is known informally as "Bones," and members are known as "Bonesmen," "Members of The Order" or "Initiated to The Order."
The Scroll and Key Society is a secret society, founded in 1842 at Yale University, in New Haven, Connecticut. It is one of the oldest Yale secret societies and reputedly the wealthiest. The society is one of the reputed "Big Three" societies at Yale, along with Skull and Bones and Wolf's Head. Each spring the society admits fifteen rising seniors to participate in its activities and carry on its traditions.
Overachievers are individuals who "perform better or achieve more success than expected." The implicit presumption is that the "overachiever" is achieving superior results through excessive effort. In a teaching context, an "overachiever" is an educational label applied to students, who perform better than their peers when normalized for the instructor's perceptions of background, intelligence or talent. In the workplace context, individuals who are deemed to be overachievers are those with the drive to complete tasks above and beyond expectations and who set very high career goals for themselves. The opposite term is underachiever.
John Prescott Ellis is a former American journalist and media consultant, and is now a partner in the venture-capital firm Sand Hills Partners. He is a nephew of former President of the United States George H. W. Bush and a first cousin of former President George W. Bush and former Governor of Florida John Ellis "Jeb" Bush.
William Henry Donaldson was the 27th Chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), serving from February 2003 to June 2005. He served as Under Secretary of State for International Security Affairs in the Nixon Administration, as a special adviser to Vice President Nelson Rockefeller, Chairman and CEO of the New York Stock Exchange, and Chairman, President and CEO of Aetna. Donaldson founded Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette.
Jonathan James Bush was an American banker who was the fourth child and third son of U. S. Senator Prescott Bush and his wife Dorothy Bush. He was the brother of former Congressman, CIA Director, Vice President and President George H. W. Bush. He was also the uncle of former Texas Governor and President George W. Bush, and former Florida Secretary of Commerce and Governor Jeb Bush. He died in Florida, hours before his 90th birthday.
Wolf's Head Society is a senior society at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. The society is one of the reputed "Big Three" societies at Yale, along with Skull and Bones and Scroll and Key. Active undergraduate membership is elected annually with sixteen Yale University students, typically rising seniors. Honorary members are elected.
Richard Edgar "Rick" Castle is a fictional character on the ABC crime series Castle. He is portrayed by Nathan Fillion.
Jacob Weisberg is an American political journalist, who served as editor-in-chief of The Slate Group, a division of Graham Holdings Company. In September 2018, he left Slate to co-found Pushkin Industries, an audio content company, with Malcolm Gladwell. Weisberg was also a Newsweek columnist. He served as the editor of Slate magazine for six years before stepping down in June 2008. He is the son of Lois Weisberg, a Chicago social activist and municipal commissioner.
Deer Island is one of the American Thousand Islands. It lies between mainland Canada and United States, within the Saint Lawrence River, in the Town of Alexandria, close to Alexandria Bay, New York. It is owned entirely by the Russell Trust Association and is used as a Skull and Bones retreat.
Manuscript Society is a senior society at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. It is reputedly the arts and letters society at Yale.
Russell Cheney was an American Impressionist, Post-Impressionist and New England regionalist painter.
The Overachievers or The Overachievers: The Secret Lives of Driven Kids is a non-fiction book written by Alexandra Robbins. Using the example of some American teenagers, it centers upon overachievement in high school, emphasizing its negative effect in modern American society. It specifically examines the belief that being successful depends on attaining the perfect GPA and being accepted by the "right" college.
John Mercer Walker Sr. was an American physician and investment banker. A member of the prominent Bush-Walker family, he was a maternal uncle of US President George H. W. Bush.
Roy Leslie Austin is a former United States Ambassador to Trinidad and Tobago from December 2001 to December 2009.
Raymond Kissam Price Jr. was an American writer who was the chief speechwriter for U.S. President Richard Nixon, working on both inaugural addresses, his resignation speech, and Gerald Ford's pardon speech. During Nixon's presidential campaign of 1968, the candidate made use of the contrasting style of two speechwriters with Price becoming known to colleagues as Mr Outside because his work was aimed at broadening Nixon's appeal.
Howard Phelps Putnam was an American poet who published two books, Trinc and The Five Seasons.
Alexandra Bracken is a #1 New York Times bestselling American author known for The Darkest Minds series and Passenger series.
Alexander B. Ellis III, formerly an executive with alternative energy companies, and now a partner in the venture-capital firm Rockport Capital Partners. He is a nephew of former President of the United States George H. W. Bush and a first cousin of former President George W. Bush and the former Governor of Florida John Ellis "Jeb" Bush.
Leigh Bardugo is an American fantasy author. She is best known for her young adult Grishaverse novels, which include the Shadow and Bone trilogy, and the Six of Crows and King of Scars duologies. She also received acclaim for her paranormal fantasy adult debut, Ninth House. The Shadow and Bone and Six of Crows series have been adapted into Shadow and Bone by Netflix and Ninth House will be adapted by Amazon Studios; Bardugo is an executive producer on both works.
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