Alex Kotlowitz
Award-Winning Journalist, Author

Alex Kotlowitz, award-winning journalist, delivered the commencement address and received an honorary degree from The Chicago School of Professional Psychology on November 17, 2002.

Kotlowitz's book, There Are No Children Here: The Story of Two Boys Growing Up in the Other America, published in 1991, was the recipient of numerous awards including the Helen B. Bernstein Award for Excellence in Journalism, the Carl Sandburg Award, and a Christopher Award. The New York Public Library selected There Are No Children Here as one of the 150 most important books of the century. In the fall of 1993, it was adapted for television as an ABC Movie-of-the-Week starring Oprah Winfrey.

In 1993, Kotlowitz left The Wall Street Journal to write his second book, The Other Side of the River: A story of Two Towns, a Death and America's Dilemma. This book received the Chicago Tribune's Heartland Award for Non–Fiction and the Great Lakes Booksellers Award for Non-Fiction.

Kotlowitz is widely recognized as one of the most sensitive writers about race in the United States. He has made writing about issues such as poverty, race and children the focus of his literary career, which has won him the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award and the George Polk Award, two of journalism's most prestigious awards for reporting on problems of the disadvantaged and other controversial topics.

"We are delighted that our graduating students will have the opportunity to hear from an inspiring individual whose award winning work captures the essence of much of our mission here at The Chicago School," said Dr. Michael Horowitz, president of The Chicago School. "We are saluting his work and honoring his approach."

Kotlowitz currently contributes to The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, and Public Radio’s “This American Life” and is a writer-in-residence at Northwestern University. His publications can be seen in The Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, Rolling Stone, and The New Republic.

Kotlowitz is a graduate of Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut and a native of New York City. He lives in the suburb of Oak Park, just outside of Chicago, with his wife and two young children.