Pulitzer Prize winner announced as next Philippe Roman Chair at LSE
The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) is pleased to announce that author and Pulitzer Prize winner Anne Applebaum will take up the post of Philippe Roman Chair in History and International Affairs at the School for 2012-13.
Anne Applebaum, who is director of political studies for the Legatum Institute, and a columnist for the Washington Post and Slate, will succeed Professor Ramachandra Guha. She takes up the post in October 2012.
In her journalism, Anne Applebaum writes about US and international politics, with a focus on issues of economic and political transition. She began her career covering the collapse of communism as the Warsaw correspondent for the Economist in 1989. In the early 1990s, she was the foreign editor, and then the deputy editor, of the Spectator magazine. She then wrote columns for the Daily Telegraph, the Sunday Telegraph, and the Evening Standard newspapers before joining the Washington Post in 2001
Her best known book, Gulag: a history, narrates the history of the Soviet concentration camps system and describes daily life in the camps. Making extensive use of recently opened Russian archives, as well as memoirs and interviews, Gulag: a history won the 2004 Pulitzer Prize for non-fiction, as well as Britain's Duff-Cooper Prize. It was also a finalist for the National Book Award, the National Book Critics Circle Award, the LA Times Book Award and the Samuel Johnson Prize.
Anne Applebaum said: "I'm delighted to be given this wonderful opportunity to meet and work with the students and faculty of the LSE, one of the few truly global institutions."
The Philippe Roman Chair is based at LSE IDEAS, the centre for international affairs, diplomacy and strategy. The post gives LSE the chance to bring a renowned expert from another part of the world to the School for a year of research, teaching and discussion. Previous holders have been Professors Niall Ferguson, Paul Kennedy, Chen Jian and Giles Keppel.
Professor Arne Westad, co-director of LSE IDEAS, said: "We are delighted that Anne Applebaum will be joining LSE IDEAS for the next academic year. Her current focus on the Stalinization of post-war Central Europe will greatly enhance the centre's research on European affairs and the history of the Cold War and we look forward to welcoming her to LSE in October."
The other co-director, Professor Michael Cox, added: "This is a top appointment, not only is Anne Applebaum the first woman ever to hold this prestigious position, she is also the first Chair to have a real interest and expertise in Central Europe."
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Contact:
Emilia Knight, LSE IDEAS, 020 7107 5363, e.knight@lse.ac.uk
Jess Winterstein, LSE Press Office, 020 7955 7060 or email Pressoffice@lse.ac.uk
27 January 2012