Kai Bird

Kai Bird is an author and columnist originally from Eugene, Oregon. He is best known for his works on the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, United States-Middle East political relations, and his biographies of political figures. He won a Pulitzer Prize for his book, "American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer." The book has had a resurgence since being credited by Christopher Nolan as the inspiration for his Academy Award-winning Best Picture Oppenheimer. Bird is also a distinguished lecturer and has been the executive director at CUNY Graduate Center's Leon Levy Center for Biography since January 2017, in addition to being a professor at the CUNY Graduate Center.

As an alumnus of Carleton College and the Medill School of Journalism, Bird went on to win the Thomas J. Watson Fellowship, which enabled him to conduct a year of independent study outside the United States, specifically a photojournalism project in Yemen. He has also been the recipient of several other prestigious awards and fellowships, including an Alicia Patterson Journalism Fellowship, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and a John D. & Catherine T. MacArthur Grant for Research and Writing.

Bird's written works extend beyond his Pulitzer Prize-winning book. He has penned biographies of McGeorge Bundy, William Bundy, John J. McCloy, and Robert Ames, among others. His book "Crossing Mandelbaum Gate: Coming of Age Between the Arabs and Israelis, 1956–1978," was a finalist for the 2010 National Book Critics Circle Award. In 2021, he published a biography on Jimmy Carter entitled "The Outlier: The Unfinished Presidency of Jimmy Carter." Bird has also appeared on C-SPAN and has written extensively as a columnist for various publications, showcasing his expertise in biography and autobiography.