Rate My Professor Steven Pearlstein

Steven Pearlstein serves as the Robinson Professor of Public Affairs at George Mason University’s Schar School of Policy and Government. He earned a B.A. in American Studies from Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut, in 1973. Pearlstein’s distinguished journalism career spans more than three decades, beginning with reporting for small newspapers in New Hampshire, followed by roles as administrative assistant to members of the U.S. House and Senate in Washington, television reporter for public television in Boston, senior editor at Inc. magazine, and founding editor and publisher of The Boston Observer, a monthly political magazine. Joining The Washington Post in 1988, he advanced through positions as deputy business editor, defense industry reporter, economics writer, Canadian correspondent, and opinion columnist since 2003. His insightful columns anticipating and explaining the financial crisis and global economic downturn earned him the Pulitzer Prize for Commentary in 2008. In 2011, he was awarded the Gerald R. Loeb Award for lifetime achievement in business and financial journalism, with his work also cited by the Society of Business Editors and Writers.

Since joining the George Mason University faculty in fall 2011, Pearlstein has taught economic principles to non-economics majors, helped launch the interdisciplinary Politics, Philosophy, and Economics concentration for majors, and offered seminars in the Honors College on narrative journalism, politics, and wealth and poverty. He co-teaches the course “How Washington Really Works” jointly with the University of Pennsylvania and serves as a senior fellow at Penn’s Washington Center, directing the Fixing Congress Initiative. Pearlstein frequently appears as a commentator on national television and radio programs and continues to write regular columns and book reviews for The Washington Post’s Sunday Business section.