Gail Gleason Collins (born November 25, 1945[1]) is an American journalist, op-ed columnist and author, most recognized for her work with the New York Times.[2][3] Joining the Times in 1995 as a member of the editorial board, from 2001 to 2007 she served as the paper's Editorial Page Editor – the first woman to attain that position.[2] Collins presently authors a semi-weekly op-ed column for the Times, published Thursdays and Saturdays.[2]
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Born in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1945 as Gail Gleason,[1] Collins has a B.A. in journalism from Marquette University[4] and an M.A. in government from the University of Massachusetts Amherst.[3] She wrote for Connecticut publications like the Hartford Advocate and, in 1972, founded the Connecticut State News Bureau, a news service providing coverage of the state capital and Connecticut politics; when she sold it in 1977, it had grown into the largest service of its kind in the United States.[2] Collins later wrote as a columnist for the New York Daily News, Newsday, and the Connecticut Business Journal, as a financial reporter for United Press International, and as a public affairs host for Connecticut Public Television.[2][5]
Collins joined The New York Times in 1995 as a member of the editorial board, and later as an op-ed columnist. In 2001, she was named the paper's first female Editorial Page Editor, a position she held for six years. She resigned from this post at the beginning of 2007 to take a six-month leave to focus on writing her book When Everything Changed: The Amazing Journey of American Women from 1960 to the Present, returning to the Times as a regular columnist in July 2007.[2]
Beyond her work as a journalist, Collins has published several books: The Millennium Book, which she co-authored with her husband, CBS News producer Dan Collins; Scorpion Tongues: Gossip, Celebrity and American Politics; America's Women: Four Hundred Years of Dolls, Drudges, Helpmates, and Heroines; and the aforementioned When Everything Changed.[2][4]
Collins has also taught journalism at Southern Connecticut State University and, as of Fall 2009, Collins co-teaches (with Seth Lipsky) an opinion writing course in Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism. She infrequently appears alongside her New York Times colleague David Brooks as a fill-in for Mark Shields on PBS Newshour's Political Wrap.