Dominic Gates

Last updated

Dominic Gates
Born1954or1955(age 70–71) [1]
Dungannon, Northern Ireland
Alma mater Queen's University, Belfast
Occupation Journalist
Years active1992–2025
Employer The Seattle Times
Known for 2020 Pulitzer Prize in National Reporting co-recipient
SpouseNina Shapiro
Children2

Dominic Gates is an Irish-American aerospace journalist, math teacher, and Pulitzer Prize winner. He spent most his career with The Seattle Times on assignment to cover Boeing from 2003 to 2025. Gates was a co-recipient of the 2020 Pulitzer Prize in National Reporting alongside Steve Miletich, Mike Baker, and Lewis Kamb for their coverage of the Boeing 737 MAX crashes and investigations. Gates retired from The Times in 2025.

Contents

Early life

Gates was born in Dungannon, Northern Ireland, as one of six children. [1] He was educated at St Patrick's Academy in Dungannon and graduated with a mathematics degree from Queen's University, Belfast. [2] Gates taught high school mathematics in Northern Ireland and Zimbabwe before relocating to the United States. [3] [4]

Journalism career

While having no formal training in journalism, Gates contributed several articles to the magazine Fortnight on an unpaid basis. [4] After moving to Seattle with his wife in 1992, he took on several freelancing assignments for various magazines and news organizations while continuing to teach mathematics. [5] Gates was hired by technology magazine The Industry Standard in 2000, but the magazine went out of business 18 months later. [3] [4]

Gates then joined The Seattle Times in 2003 as an aerospace reporter, covering the local Boeing beat. He covered the development and launch of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner project and later the Boeing 737 MAX program, including two fatal crashes and the subsequent grounding of the aircraft. [3] He won critical acclaim for his investigation into the 737 MAX and its automated flight control system, which had been written prior to the second crash. [1] Gates and Times colleagues Steve Miletich, Mike Baker, and Lewis Kamb were awarded the 2019 George Polk Award in Business Reporting, the 2020 Pulitzer Prize in National Reporting, and the 2020 Gerald Loeb Award for Beat Reporting for their coverage of the Boeing 737 MAX program. [4] [6] [7] [8]

On March 14, 2025, Gates retired from The Seattle Times after 22 years as the newspaper's aerospace reporter. [9]

Personal life

Gates is married to Nina Shapiro, a fellow journalist at The Seattle Times whom he met while teaching in Zimbabwe. [3] They have two adult daughters. [1]

Selected bibliography

  1. "Flawed analysis, failed oversight: How Boeing, FAA certified the suspect 737 MAX flight control system", March 21, 2019 [11]
  2. "Engineers say Boeing pushed to limit safety testing in race to certify planes, including 737 MAX", May 5, 2019 [12]
  3. "The inside story of MCAS: How Boeing's 737 MAX system gained power and lost safeguards", June 24, 2019 [13]
  4. "Boeing rejected 737 MAX safety upgrades before fatal crashes, whistleblower says", October 3, 2019 [14]
  5. "Boeing pushed FAA to relax 737 MAX certification requirements for crew alerts", October 3, 2019 [15]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Pulitzer prize for Dungannon-born journalist". Ulster Herald . May 17, 2020. Archived from the original on November 30, 2020. Retrieved October 1, 2020.
  2. ↑ Moriarty, Gerry (May 6, 2020). "Tyrone journalist wins Pulitzer for Boeing Max crashes coverage". Irish Times . Retrieved October 1, 2020.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Blatchford, Taylor (June 13, 2019). "Behind the Byline: Meet aerospace reporter Dominic Gates". The Seattle Times . Retrieved October 1, 2020.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Canning, Margaret (May 7, 2020). "Ex-teacher from Co Tyrone Dominic Gates wins Pulitzer Prize". Belfast Telegraph . Retrieved October 1, 2020.
  5. ↑ Fancher, Michael R. (June 17, 2007). "An unusual journey to the Boeing beat". The Seattle Times. Retrieved October 1, 2020.
  6. 1 2 "The 2020 Pulitzer Prize Winner in National Reporting: Dominic Gates, Steve Miletich, Mike Baker and Lewis Kamb of The Seattle Times". The Pulitzer Prizes . Retrieved October 1, 2020.
  7. 1 2 Harris, Roy J. Jr. (April 3, 2020). "Pulitzer preview: While journalists pursue today's story of a lifetime, a moment to recognize 2019's best work". Poynter Institute . Retrieved October 1, 2020.
  8. 1 2 Trounson, Rebecca (November 13, 2020). "Anderson School of Management announces 2020 Loeb Award winners in business journalism" (Press release). UCLA Anderson School of Management. Retrieved November 13, 2020.
  9. ↑ Roush, Chris (March 6, 2025). "Pulitzer winner Gates retiring from Seattle Times". Talking Biz News . Retrieved August 16, 2025.
  10. ↑ "Boeing's 737 MAX Crisis". The Seattle Times . December 15, 2019. Retrieved November 14, 2020.
  11. ↑ Gates, Dominic (March 17, 2019). "Flawed analysis, failed oversight: How Boeing, FAA certified the suspect 737 MAX flight control system". The Seattle Times . Retrieved November 14, 2020.
  12. ↑ Gates, Dominic; Baker, Mike (May 5, 2019). "Engineers say Boeing pushed to limit safety testing in race to certify planes, including 737 MAX". The Seattle Times . Retrieved November 14, 2020.
  13. ↑ Gates, Dominic; Baker, Mike (June 22, 2019). "The inside story of MCAS: How Boeing's 737 MAX system gained power and lost safeguards". The Seattle Times . Retrieved November 14, 2020.
  14. ↑ Gates, Dominic; Miletich, Steve; Kamb, Lewis (October 2, 2019). "Boeing rejected 737 MAX safety upgrades before fatal crashes, whistleblower says". The Seattle Times . Retrieved November 14, 2020.
  15. ↑ Gates, Dominic; Miletich, Steve; Kamb, Lewis (October 2, 2019). "Boeing pushed FAA to relax 737 MAX certification requirements for crew alerts". The Seattle Times . Retrieved November 14, 2020.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.