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About

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Orville Schell is the Arthur Ross Director of the Center on U.S.-China Relations at Asia Society in New York.

He is a former professor and Dean at the University of California, Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism. Schell was born in New York City, graduated Magna Cum Laude from Harvard University in Far Eastern History, was an exchange student at National Taiwan University in the 1960s, and earned a Ph.D. (Abd) at University of California, Berkeley in Chinese History. He worked for the Ford Foundation in Indonesia, covered the war in Indochina as a journalist, and has traveled widely in China since the mid-70s.

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Schell is the author of fifteen books, ten of them about China, and a contributor to numerous edited volumes. His most recent books are: Wealth and Power, China’s long March to the 21st Century; Virtual Tibet; The China Reader: The Reform Years; and Mandate of Heaven: The Legacy of Tiananmen Square and the Next Generation of China’s Leaders. He has written widely for many magazine and newspapers, including The Atlantic Monthly, The New Yorker, Time, The New Republic, Harpers, The Nation, The New York Review of Books, Wired, Foreign Affairs, the China Quarterly, and the New York Times, the Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times.

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He is a Fellow at the Weatherhead East Asian Institute at Columbia University, a Senior Fellow at the Annenberg School of Communications at USC and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Schell is also the recipient of many prizes and fellowships, including a Guggenheim Fellowship, the Overseas Press Club Award, and the Harvard-Stanford Shorenstein Prize in Asian Journalism.

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Education

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Orville Schell meets Taiwan's President, Chiang Kai-shek, while a student at  National Taiwan University, Department of History. Circa 1961

Fellowships and Awards

Professional Experience

Board &  Affiliations

Past

Professional Memberships

1968—Ph.D (Abd) University of California, Berkeley, Department of History (Chinese History)
1967—M.A., University of California, Berkeley, Department of History (Chinese History)
1964—B.A., Magna Cum Laude, Harvard University, Department of History. (Far Eastern History)
1961-1962—National Taiwan University, Department of History (Foreign Student, non-degree program)
1960—Stanford University, intensive Chinese language summer program







2009—Honorary Doctorate, University of Tulsa
2006—Society of Professional Journalism, Excellence in Journalism Award
2005—Northern California Book Awards, The Fred Cody Lifetime Achievement Award
2003—The Shorenstein Journalism Award for Covering Asia – John F. Kennedy School’s Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy and Stanford University’s Asia-Pacific Research Center
2001—Honorary Doctorate, Dominican University
1997—George Peabody Award: Producer of the WGBH-Frontline documentary, “The Gate of Heavenly Peace”
1995—Senior Fellow, Freedom Forum Media Studies Center, Columbia University. Fellow, East Asian Institute, Columbia University
1993—Overseas Press Club of American Award: Best magazine article on a foreign subject in 1992—for “China Plays The Market,” The Nation, December 14, 1992 (Co-author)
1993—Alfred I. Dupont-Columbia University Silver Baton award in broadcast journalism for CBS “60 Minutes” report “Made In China.” (Program consultant)
1992—Emmy Award for “60 Minutes” report “Made In China.”(Program consultant)
1989-1990—John Simon Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship
1989—Mencken Award for “Atlantic Monthly” article on Fang Lizhi
1986—MacDowell Colony Fellowship
1985—News Paper Guild of New York: Page One Award for “New Yorker” series
1985—Bay Area Book Reviewers Association: Award in Non-fiction
1983—MacDowell Colony Fellowship
1981—Alicia Patterson Foundation: Journalism fellowship
1967-1968—Center for Chinese Studies, University of California: Foreign Area Training Fellowship
1964-1966—Ford Foundation, Overseas Development Training Associate Fellowship, Jakarta, Indonesia
1961-1962—Ministry of Education, Republic of China, Foreign Student Fellowship
2008-present—Fellow, The Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia University
2007-present—Arthur Ross Director, Center on U.S.-China Relations, Asia Society
2007-present—Senior Fellow, Center on Communication Leadership, Annenberg School for Communication, University of Southern California
2000-2010—Editor, Project Syndicate China column
1996-2007—Dean, the Graduate School of Journalism, University of California, Berkeley
1997—Correspondent for WGBH-Frontline documentary “Dreams of Tibet
1997—Consultant for CBC “60 Minutes” program, “Hong Kong”
1995-1997—Moderator of Voice of America‘s program “Issues and Perspectives on China”
1996—Producer WGBH-TV Boston “Frontline” documentary “Gate of Heavenly Peace” and editorial consultant for Frontline documentary for “Smoke In Your Eye”
1995—Consultant: CBC News
1994—Correspondent: WGBH-TV Boston “Frontline” documentary, “Red Flag Over Tibet”
1991—Consultant: CBS “60 Minutes” program “Made In China”
1990—Regents’ Lecturer: Graduate School of Journalism, University of California, Berkeley
1989—Vice Chairman: Human Rights Watch/Asia
1989—Executive Committee member: Human Rights Watch
1989—Consultant: ABC Nightline
1989—Commentator: NBC Nightly News
1988-1989—President: China Symposium `89
1987—Consultant: NBC Nightly News
1987—Visiting Distinguished Professor: Chico State University
1986—Research Associate: Center for Chinese Studies, University of California, Berkeley
1984—Co-Producer: WGBH-TV Boston Frontline documentary film: “A Chinese Affair”
1975-1985—”New Yorker Magazine:” China coverage
1970-1971—Founder and Editor-in-Chief: Pacific News Service
1968-1971—Co-Director: The Bay Area Institute
1967—Co-coordinator: Committee of Concerned Asian scholars
World Affairs Council of San Francisco (Board Member)
The Davos World Economic Forum (Media Council)
The Nancy Dickerson Whitehead Award (Jury)
The Social Science Research Council (Board Member)
Sundance Documentary Film Fund (Jury)
The Dan David Prize (Jury)
The Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting (Jury)
The New Perspectives Fund, The Capital Group (Advisory Board)
The Yale-China Association (Board Member)
The National Magazine Awards. (Jury)
Center For Chinese Studies, University of California, Berkeley (Research Associate)
Frontline and Frontline/World, WGBH-Boston (Consultant)
The Global Business Network (Member, 1985-2004)
Center for Investigative Journalism (Advisory Board)
Current Media
GE Eco-imagination Board
World Economic Forum Media Council
World Affairs Council of San Francisco
The Nancy Dickerson Whitehead Memorial Award
Social Science Research Council
The Sundance Documentary Film Fund
The Dan David Prize Jury
The Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting Jury
The New Perspectives Fund Advisory Board
The Yale-China Association Board
The Berkeley Art Museum Board
National Magazine Award Jury
Council on Foreign Relations
The Harvard Club of New York City
Author’s Guild
PEN

Booking Inquiries

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