NEIL SWIDEY runs on curiosity. A bestselling author and award-winning magazine writer, he explores a wide range of subjects in his work. He is the director of the Journalism Program and a professor of the practice at Brandeis University as well as editor-at-large of the Boston Globe Magazine. His most recent book, Trapped Under the Sea, was named one of the best books of the year by Amazon and Booklist, and his first book, The Assist, was named one of the best books of the year by the Washington Post. He was also a coauthor of Last Lion: The Fall and Rise of Ted Kennedy, and previously worked for NBC News as an on-air contributing analyst. He is a National Magazine Award finalist, an Emmy Award Nominee (New England), and an eight-time winner of the Sigma Delta Chi Award from the Society of Professional Journalists. His writing has won many other awards, and has been featured in The Best American Science Writing, The Best American Crime Writing, and The Best American Political Writing. Neil lives outside Boston with his wife and three daughters. As an outgrowth of his first book, he founded the Alray Scholars Program, a mentoring and scholarship nonprofit that gives first-generation college students from Boston a second chance to earn their degree.
On Sherman Teichman: “No matter how extensive their faculty rosters are, most universities have a small, select group of dynamic individuals who make education come alive for their students, challenging them to become independent and original thinkers and swing-for-the-fences doers. Sherm was that kind of force-of-nature figure at Tufts. I consider myself fortunate to have been one of his students -- and then to have him as a friend for life.”