About the Marie Colvin Center
Part of the Stony Brook University School of Communication and Journalism, the Marie Colvin Center for International Reporting educates and prepares the next generation of foreign correspondents, and supports professional journalists around the world.
Increasingly, events half a world away have far-reaching repercussions, and reporting from the front lines has a vital role to play in a functioning global society. The Colvin Center is committed to the mission of accurate, uncensored information that flows freely across political and geographical borders.
Our Commitment
The Colvin Center aims to uphold the causes for which Marie Colvin gave her life:
- Democracy, human rights and freedom of expression
- Justice for the victims of war and gender-based violence
- Support for refugees and displaced people
- Attention to the resilience, safety and well-being of reporters at risk
Contact Us
If you have a general inquiry, please email us at socj@stonybrook.edu.
Colvin Center Leadership
Laura Lindenfeld
Dean, School of Communication and Journalism
Executive Director, Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science
Sarah Baxter
Director, Colvin Center
Visiting Professor of Foreign Reporting
Pablo Calvi
Associate Director for Latin America
Associate Professor, Journalism
About Marie Colvin
1956 -2012
Marie Colvin was an acclaimed war correspondent from Long Island, who was killed by
President Bashar al-Assad's forces in Syria in February 2012 while working for The Sunday Times of London.
She exemplified courage under fire, commitment to truth-telling and concern for the suffering of civilians caught up in war. Her career spanned 30 years and took her to conflict zones around the world, including in Libya, Iraq, Chechnya, Kosovo, East Timor and Sri Lanka, where she lost an eye in a grenade blast.
Her story was turned into a Hollywood movie, A Private War, starring Rosamund Pike, and her final days in Syria were commemorated in a documentary, Under the Wire, by the photographer Paul Conroy, who was injured alongside her.
Her friend and fellow international correspondent, Lindsey Hilsum, published In Extremis: The Life and Death of War Correspondent Marie Colvin, after spending time at Stony Brook University with the help of the Marie Colvin Center.
Colvin Center History & Programs
The Marie Colvin Center was founded in 2013 by the School of Communication and Journalism with the support of Marie Colvin's fellow journalists, her family and the News Corp Foundation.
The Center hosts the annual Marie Colvin Distinguished Lecture, and offers programs that allow SoCJ students and recent graduates to report overseas for prestigious media outlets and organizations.
Advisory Board
Cathleen Colvin
Assistant General Counsel, Pall Corp.
Founder, Marie Colvin Fund at the Long Island Community Foundation
John Daniszewski
Vice President and Editor at Large for Standards, Associated Press
Michael Slackman
Assistant Managing Editor for News, New York Times
Suzi Watford
Chief Strategy Officer, Washington Post