Overview
Frank Bruni joined the Duke faculty in 2021 after more than 25 years on the staff of The New York Times, where his various roles included White House correspondent, Rome bureau chief, chief restaurant critic and, most recently, Op-Ed columnist. He remains a Contributing Opinion Writer and has a weekly Times newsletter (nytimes.com/BruniLetter) that's published every Thursday. He was the first openly gay Op-Ed columnist at the Times and in 2016 was honored by the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association with the Randy Shilts Award for his lifetime contribution to LGBTQ equality.
He is the author of four New York Times best sellers: "The Beauty of Dusk: On Vision Lost and Found," a 2022 account of his diagnosis with a disorder that imperils his eyesight; a 2015 examination of the college admissions frenzy, “Where You Go Is Not Who You’ll Be”; a 2009 memoir, “Born Round,” about the joys and torments of his eating life; and a 2002 chronicle of George W. Bush’s initial presidential campaign, “Ambling into History.” His cookbook, “A Meatloaf in Every Oven,” was published in February 2017 and co-written with his Times colleague Jennifer Steinhauer.
Bruni joined the Times from the Detroit Free Press, where he was, alternately, a war correspondent, the chief movie critic and a religion writer. He has worked as a general-assignment writer for the Detroit Free Press and the New York Post. He has taught at Princeton University and been active at his alma mater, UNC-Chapel Hill, as an advisor on improving the undergraduate experience and the liberal arts curriculum.
He's at work on a new book, about the ways in which grievance dominates America's political and cultural discourse, that's expected to be published in early 2024.