Frank Bruni joined the Duke faculty in 2021 after 25 years on the staff of the New York Times, where he remains a contributing Opinion writer and where he previously served as a Metro reporter, a White House correspondent, the Rome bureau chief, the chief restaurant critic and, for 10 years,  an Op-Ed columnist who appeared frequently as a television commentator. He was the Times’s first openly gay Op-Ed columnist and in 2016 was honored by the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association with the Randy Shilts Award for his lifetime contribution to LGBTQ+ equality.

He also writes books and is the author of five New York Times best sellers: “The Age of Grievance,” a 2024 examination of America’s political dysfunction and culture wars; “The Beauty of Dusk,” a 2022 account of a rare stroke that impaired and imperiled his eyesight; “Where You Go Is Not Who You’ll Be,”  a 2015 examination of the college admissions frenzy; a 2009 memoir, “Born Round,” about the joys and torments of his eating life; and a 2002 chronicle of George W. Bush’s initial presidential campaign, “Ambling into History.”

Bruni joined the Times from the Detroit Free Press, where he was, alternately, a war correspondent, the chief movie critic and a religion writer. He has taught at Princeton University and been active at his alma mater, UNC-Chapel Hill, as an advisor on improving the undergraduate experience and the liberal arts curriculum. He was the university’s commencement speaker in 2022.

In his current role at the Times, Bruni writes a popular weekly newsletter (nytimes.com/BruniLetter) along with occasional longer essays, typically about American politics.