Patty O'Toole

Associate Professor and Vice-Chair

Patricia O'Toole received her B.A. from University of Michigan. Her most recent book, When Trumpets Call: Theodore Roosevelt after the White House (Simon and Schuster, 2005), was selected as one of the year's best works of nonfiction by several leading publications. Her books include Money and Morals in America, A History and The Five of Hearts: An Intimate Portrait of Henry Adams and His Friends, which was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, a National Book Critics Circle Award, and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. As a journalist, essayist and reviewer, she has contributed to a wide range of publications including Time, The American Scholar, and Smithsonian. For her magazine work on social and economic issues she has received a Front Page Award for distinguished commentary, an Emma from The National Women's Political Caucus and Radcliffe College, and an Excellence in Media Award from GLAAD, the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation. In the Writing Division, she teaches nonfiction workshops and research seminars, serves as vice-chair, and is involved in a number of programs that connect students with the larger literary community. Beyond Columbia, she serves on the advisory board of the New York University Biography Seminar, has chaired the nonfiction panel for The National Book Awards and has been a judge for the PEN Award for first book of nonfiction. She has also served as a member of the Fellows' Executive Committee of the MacDowell Colony and a guest curator at The National Portrait Gallery. She will spend the fall of 2006 as a fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, where she will do research for a new book, Redeeming the World, about Wilson's presidency and American power.