He has been the president and CEO of the Aspen Institute,a nonpartisan policy studies organization based in Washington,D.C.,the chair and CEO of CNN,and the editor of Time.
Isaacson began his career in journalism at The Sunday Times in London,followed by a position with the New Orleans Times-Picayune. He joined Time magazine in 1978,serving as the magazine's political correspondent,national editor,and editor of new media before becoming the magazine's 14th editor in 1996.[9][10]
Isaacson became chairman and CEO of CNN in July 2001,replacing Tom Johnson,and only two months later,guided CNN through the events of 9/11.[11][12] Shortly after his appointment at CNN,Isaacson sought the views of Republican Party leaders on Capitol Hill regarding criticisms that CNN broadcast content that was unfair to Republicans or conservatives. He was quoted in Roll Call magazine as saying:"I was trying to reach out to a lot of Republicans who feel that CNN has not been as open to covering Republicans,and I wanted to hear their concerns." The CEO's conduct was criticized by the Fairness &Accuracy In Reporting (FAIR) organization,which said that Isaacson's "pandering" behavior was endowing conservative politicians with power over CNN.[13][14]
In January 2003,he announced that he would step down as president of CNN to become president of the Aspen Institute.[12]Jim Walton replaced Isaacson as president of CNN.[11]
Isaacson served as the president and CEO of the Aspen Institute from 2003 until 2018,when he stepped down to become a professor of history at Tulane University and an advisory partner at the New York City financial services firm Perella Weinberg Partners.[4] In November 2017,the Aspen Institute named Dan Porterfield,the president of Franklin &Marshall College,as Isaacson's successor.[15]
In March 2017,Isaacson launched a podcast with Dell Technologies called Trailblazers,which focuses on technology's effects on business.[16] In 2018,Isaacson was named as a contributor for the Amanpour &Company airing on PBS and CNN that replaced The Charlie Rose Show.[17]
On October 24,2011,Steve Jobs,Isaacson's authorized biography of Apple Inc.'s Jobs,was published by Simon &Schuster,only a few weeks after Jobs's death. It became an international best-seller,breaking all records for sales of a biography. The book was based on over forty interviews with Jobs over a two-year period up until shortly before his death,and on conversations with friends,family members,and business rivals of the entrepreneur.[19][20][21][22][23]
In October 2005,the Governor of Louisiana,Kathleen Blanco,appointed Isaacson vice chairman of the Louisiana Recovery Authority,a board that oversaw spending on the recovery from Hurricane Katrina. In December 2007,he was appointed by President George W. Bush to the chairman of the U.S.-Palestinian Partnership,which seeks to create economic and educational opportunities in the Palestinian territories.[37] Secretary of State Hillary Clinton appointed him vice-chair of the Partners for a New Beginning,which encourages private-sector investments and partnerships in the Muslim world.[38]
He also served as the co-chair of the U.S.-Vietnamese Dialogue on Agent Orange,which in January 2008 announced completion of a project to contain the dioxin left behind by the U.S. at the Da Nang air base and plans to build health centers and a dioxin laboratory in the affected regions.[39]
In 2014,he was appointed by New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu to be the co-chair of the New Orleans Tricentennial Commission,which planned the city's 300th-anniversary commemoration in 2018.[41] In 2015,he was appointed to the board of My Brother's Keeper Alliance,which seeks to carry out President Obama's anti-poverty and youth opportunity initiatives.[42] In 2016,he was appointed by Landrieu and confirmed by the City Council to be a member of the New Orleans City Planning Commission.[43] He is a member of the U.S. Department of Defense Innovation Advisory Board. In 2018,he was appointed by New Orleans mayor-elect LaToya Cantrell to be co-chair of her transition team.
In March 2019,Isaacson became the editor-at-large and senior adviser for Arcadia Publishing,where he was to promote books for the company as well as be involved in editing,new strategy development,and partnerships.[45]
Isaacson is an Associate of the History of Science Department and a member of the Lowell House Senior Common Room at Harvard University. He is also an honorary fellow of Pembroke College,Oxford. Walter Isaacson is a special professor of history at Tulane University.[46][47] He teaches the course "The Digital Revolution" every spring and the course "Law and U.S. History" every fall. His courses often feature prominent guest speakers such as author Michael Lewis,Kickstarter founder Perry Chen,and billionaire businessman James Coulter. At Tulane,Isaacson co-chairs the annual New Orleans Book Festival.[48][49]
Honors
In 2023,Isaacson received the National Humanities Medal from President Joe Biden. The White House citation of Isaacson's award emphasizes that his "work,words,and wisdom bridge divides between science and the humanities and between opposing philosophies,elevating discourse and our understanding of who we are as a Nation".[50]
Isaacson's book Steve Jobs,about the life of the entrepreneur,earned Isaacson the 2012 Gerald Loeb Award.[51]
↑ Eason Jordan (August 15, 2001). "New CNN Chief Trying to Please GOP Elite". FAIR (Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting). Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting. Archived from the original on December 8, 2012. Retrieved January 18, 2015.
↑ "Walter S. Isaacson, Commencement Speech, May 22, 2012 | The Cooper Union". cooper.edu. May 30, 2012. Archived from the original on March 18, 2015. Retrieved March 19, 2020. [W]hen I first started writing about Benjamin Franklin, I thought of him as a writer, a humanities type, somebody interested in governance. I did realize that he was probably the most important experimental scientist of his time. Both with the electricity experiment and so many of his other inventions. And I realize that a Benjamin Franklin or a Thomas Jefferson would have thought people philistines if they didn't appreciate the beauty of science. And likewise, Albert Einstein, a great scientist would have thought people philistines if they were scientists and didn't appreciate the beauty of Goethe or Mozart, or all of the literature or music that he loved.
↑ Isaacson, Walter (September 12, 2023). Elon Musk. Simon & Schuster. ISBN978-1-9821-8128-4. Archived from the original on November 26, 2023. Retrieved May 19, 2023.
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