Edward Ware Barrett ’32

ED BARRETT, a distinguished journalist and public servant, died in Greenwich, Conn., on Oct. 23, 1989. Ed had a remarkable career in college. He ran cross-country, edited the freshman handbook, was on the debating panel, and was a member of the student-faculty assn., the Undergraduate Council, and Cap and Gown. He also was chairman of the Daily Princetonian and president of the Hill School Club. During senior year, the class voted him the most respected member of the class outside of athletics.

Ed's post-college career was even more remarkable. With printer's ink in his veins (he was the son of a newspaper publisher in Birmingham, Ala.), he put his experience on the Princetonian to good use in a number of important posts at Newsweek. With the outbreak of WWII, he joined the Office of War Information and became director of its overseas operations. When the war ended, he became an assistant secretary of state for public affairs and then an executive with Hill & Knowlton before turning to what would become his life's work: running the Columbia Univ. School of Journalism. As dean of the school, Ed was one of the leading figures in American journalism. In 1962, he founded the Columbia Journalism Review, a pioneering periodical devoted to criticism of the news media. He resigned in 1968 after a dispute with the university over its heavy-handed treatment of the student turbulence of the time. Ed later relented and returned to Columbia as publisher of the Review. He retired in 1982.

Ed is survived by his wife of 50 years, the former Mason Daniel, and by two daughters, Margo and Lisa. We salute this multi-talented man.

The Class of 1932