Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Gates, Robert Michael, 1943–, American government official, U.S. secretary of defense (2006–11), b. Wichita, Kans. A circumspect and pragmatic career intelligence officer, he joined (1966) the Cen...

(Encyclopedia) Pelli, César, 1926–2019, American architect, b. Tucumán, Argentina. Pelli graduated (1949) from the Univ. of Tucumán, immigrated (1952) to the United States, and subsequently attended (1952–54)...

(Encyclopedia) Starr, Kenneth Winston, 1946–2022, American public official, b. Vernon, Tex., grad. George Washington Univ. (B.A., 1968), Brown (M.A., 1969), Duke (J....

(Encyclopedia) Kerry, John Forbes, 1943–, U.S. politician, b. Denver, grad. Yale, 1966, Boston College law school, 1976. A decorated navy veteran who served two tours in Vietnam after graduating from Yale, Kerry w...

(Encyclopedia) Wolfowitz, Paul Dundes 1943–, American political figure, b. Brooklyn, N.Y., grad. Cornell (B.A. 1965), Univ. of Chicago (Ph.D. 1972). In 1966 he entered government service, and worked for the Arms C...

(Encyclopedia)  Warren, Elizabeth, 1949- , American politician, b. Oklahoma City, Ok., as Elizabeth Ann Herring, Univ. of Houston (1970, B.S.); Rutgers-Newark La...

(Encyclopedia) Bellow, Saul, 1915–2005, American novelist, b. Lachine, Que., as Solomon Bellow, grad. Northwestern Univ., 1937. Born of Russian-Jewish parents, he grew up in the slums of Montreal and Chicago, and ...

(Encyclopedia) Franklin, John Hope, 1915–2009, the dean of 20th-century African-American historians, b. Rentiesville, Okla., grad. Fisk Univ. (A.B., 1935), Harvard (M.A., 1936; Ph.D., 1941). Franklin served on the...

(Encyclopedia) Watergate affair, in U.S. history, series of scandals involving the administration of President Richard M. Nixon; more specifically, the burglarizing of the Democratic party national headquarters in t...

(Encyclopedia) Emerson, Ralph Waldo ĕmˈərsən [key], 1803–82, American poet and essayist, b. Boston. Through his essays, poems, and lectures, the “Sage of Concord” established himself as a leading spokesman...