Nancy Shute is editor in chief of Science News, an independent nonprofit news organization founded in 1921 by newspaper magnate E.W. Scripps and scientists W.E. Ritter to improve public understanding of science, medicine and technology. Before joining Science News, Shute was an editor and correspondent for NPR, directing health coverage and reporting on air for NPR’s All Things Considered and Morning Edition. She also served as assistant managing editor and senior writer for U.S. News & World Report, where she led coverage of science and technology and wrote multiple cover stories. She also has written for national publications, including National Geographic, The New York Times and Scientific American.
She is a past president of the National Association of Science Writers, the United States’ largest and oldest science writing membership organization, and an organizer of the 2011 World Conference of Science Journalists in Doha, Qatar, co-sponsored by the Arab Science Writers Association and NASW. She speaks frequently to scientists, journalists and institutional leaders on best practices in science communication and social media and other new media technologies. Shute taught science writing at Johns Hopkins University’s Advanced Academic Programs, and has been a guest lecturer at institutions including the University of Wisconsin, Columbia, NYU, the University of Maryland, Georgetown, Vanderbilt and the University of California, Santa Cruz. She was a Fulbright Scholar in Kamchatka, Russia, and holds an A.B. from Washington University in St. Louis and an M.S.L. from Yale Law School.