Deborah Nelson | Philip Merrill College of Journalism

Deborah Nelson
Director, Carnegie Seminar
J.D., DePaul; B.S., Northern Illinois

Office: 4115 Journalism
Phone: 301-405-2888
E-mail: dnelson@jmail.umd.edu

Deborah Nelson is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist. She is author of a new book, The War Behind Me: Vietnam Veterans Confront the Truth About U.S. War Crimes (Basic Books, 2008), based on a declassified army archive and interviews with suspects, whistleblowers, survivors, former commanders, investigators and Pentagon officials. www.thewarbehindme.com Nelson joined the journalism college as visiting professor in 2006, after five years as the Washington investigations editor for the Los Angeles Times, where she co-authored a series on U.S. war crimes and oversaw projects on 9-11, the economy, foreign policy and the federal government. She also reported for The Washington Post, The Seattle Times, The Chicago Sun-Times and two small Chicago-area dailies. Her national awards include a Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting for a series that exposed widespread problems in the federal government's Indian Housing Program, and an AAAS Science Journalism Award for an investigation into the death of a teenager in a gene therapy experiment. As an editor, she helped produce two Pulitzer-winning series. Nelson earned a B.S. in Journalism from Northern Illinois University and a J.D. from DePaul University College of Law. The Carnegie Seminar provides intensive instruction in specialized areas, such as education, economics, science, politics, race, immigration and terrorism. Students are exposed to the University's top experts in fields directly related to major news-making issues and events.

Expertise: Investigative reporting; media law

Affiliations: Fund for Investigative Journalism Board of Directors; Investigative Reporting Workshop Advisory Board; Investigative Reporters and Editors, member and former president.

Curriculum Vitae