Scholarship and Biography
Neil Swidey is a bestselling author, magazine writer and multimedia journalist. He is the author of "Trapped Under the Sea," which was named one of the best books of the year by Amazon and Booklist, and "The Assist," which was named one of the best books of the year by the Washington Post. He is also a coauthor of "Last Lion: The Fall and Rise of Ted Kennedy," which led to his work as a contributing analyst for NBC News. Now editor-at-large of the Boston Globe Magazine, Swidey has been a National Magazine Award finalist, an Edward R. Murrow Award winner, 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 national awards, and has been featured in "The Best American Science Writing," "The Best American Crime Writing," and "The Best American Political Writing." Before joining the Brandeis faculty, he taught multimedia journalism at Tufts University, his alma mater. As a public speaker for the Penguin Random House Speakers Bureau, he has keynoted conferences throughout the United States and Canada. 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.
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Honors
Livingston Awards for Young Journalists (finalist), University of Michigan, for “The Costly Case of the Purple Pill.” (2003)
University of Michigan–Ann Arbor (United States, Ann Arbor) - UM, 2003
The Best American Crime Writing, for “The Self-destruction of an M.D.
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (United States, Boston) - HMH, 2005
The Best American Science Writing, for “What Makes People Gay?”
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (United States, Boston) - HMH, 2006
The Best American Crime Reporting, for “The Inside Job.”
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (United States, Boston) - HMH, 2007
The Best American Political Writing, for “The Lessons of the Father: George & Mitt Romney.”
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (United States, Boston) - HMH, 2007
Favorite Books of the Year for "The Assist"
Rocky Mountain News, 2008
Best Books of the Year for "The Assist"
The Washington Post, 2008
New Voices selection for "The Assist"
Barnes & Noble (United States, New York), 2008
Sigma Delta Chi Award for Feature Reporting for “Trapped” and “The Way Out.”
Society of Professional Journalists (United States, Indianapolis) - SPJ, 2009
Media Award for Coverage of Family Issus for “Spying on the Text Generation”
Council on Contemporary Families, 2009
The Best American Nonrequired Reading, notable selection
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (United States, Boston) - HMH, 2010
Documentary Video Award (co-producer; finalist) for “Trapped Under the Sea.”
National Press Photographers Association, 2010
National Magazine Award (“Ellie”) for Reporting (finalist), for “Trapped” and “The Way Out.”
American Society of Magazine Editors, 2010
Journalism Award for “Trapped” and “The Way Out.”
Boston Society of Civil Engineers, 2010
Non-deadline Writing Award (finalist), for “Trapped” and “The Way Out”
American Society of News Editors (United States, Columbia) - ASNE, 2010
The Best American Sports Writing, notable selection, for “What We Lose When Everyone Wins.”
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (United States, Boston) - HMH, 2011
Sigma Delta Chi Award for Public Service in Magazine Journalism for “Boston vs. New York: The End Game.”
Society of Professional Journalists (United States, Indianapolis) - SPJ, 2012
Iowa High School Book Award (finalist), for "The Assist"
Iowa Association of School Librarians, 2012
Sigma Delta Chi Award for Public Service in Magazine Journalism for “Greetings from Gun Valley.”
Society of Professional Journalists (United States, Indianapolis) - SPJ, 2013
Amazon Top 100 Books of the Year (Combined Fiction and Nonfiction List); Amazon’s Top 20 Nonfiction Books of the Year; Amazon’s Top 20 History Books of the Year; Amazon Canada’s Top Nonfiction Books of the Year, for "Trapped Under the Sea."
Amazon (United States, Seattle), 2014
Apple/iTunes Best Book of the Month selection, for "Trapped Under the Sea."
Apple (United States, Cupertino), 2014
The Best American Essays, notable selection, for “Restart: The Future of the Boston Marathon."
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (United States, Boston) - HMH, 2014
“Editor’s Choice” best-of-the-year selection, for "Trapped Under the Sea"
American Library Association (United States, Chicago) - ALA, 2014
Top Ten (Science) pick, for "Trapped Under the Sea"
Publishers Weekly, 2014
Sigma Delta Chi Award for Public Service in Magazine Journalism for “Food Allergy Fakers.”
Society of Professional Journalists (United States, Indianapolis) - SPJ, 2015
Sigma Delta Chi Award for Magazine Writing for “The Reckoning: The Roots of ISIS.”
Society of Professional Journalists (United States, Indianapolis) - SPJ, 2016
Sigma Delta Chi Award for Public Service in Magazine Journalism for “Trump’s Wall and Prescott Hall.”
Society of Professional Journalists (United States, Indianapolis) - SPJ, 2017
Weidenbaum Center Award for Evidence-Based Journalism for Hopes, Dreams, Debt: The College Loan Crisis.”
Washington University in St. Louis (United States, St Louis) - WUSTL, 2017
Journalism/Book Award for "Trapped Under the Sea"
Boston Society of Civil Engineers, 2017
Paris Accords of Science Communication
National Press Foundation (United States, Washington D.C.) - NPF, 2019
Sigma Delta Chi Award for Magazine Investigative Reporting for "The Madness of College Sports."
Society of Professional Journalists (United States, Indianapolis) - SPJ, 2019
Best American Essays, notable selection, for "The Madness of College Sports."
HarperCollins Publishers, 2020
Knight Journalism Program at MIT’s Victor K. McElheny Award for Science Journalism (finalist) for Boston Globe narrative investigation “The Virus’s Tale"
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (United States, Cambridge) - MIT, 2021
Multiple national awards: for Narrative Storytelling (separate awards for "The Virus's Tale" and "The Hijacking of Flight 1320"); for General Feature ("The Virus's Tale"); and for Best Special Section ("Dispatches")
Society for Features Journalism, 2021
Edward R. Murrow Award for "The Virus's Tale"
Radio Television Digital News Association, 2021
Logan Science Jornalism Fellow / University of Chicago Marine Biological Laboratory
University of Chicago (United States, Chicago) - UC, 2024
Council on Foreign Relations Local Journalism Fellow
Council on Foreign Relations (United States, New York) - CFR, 2024
Center for Community News “Champion” (recognizing journalism leaders from around the country who forge innovative newsroom-college partnerships)
University of Vermont (United States, Burlington) - UVM, 02/24/2025
Organizational Affiliations
Past Affiliations
Education
Tufts University
B.A.