Sharon Begley
Senior Editor, Newsweek

Sharon Begley has been the science columnist of Newsweek since March 2007 and the science editor since May 2009. In addition to a bi-weekly column covering genetics, neuroscience, astronomy, physics, cosmology, climate and other sciences, she writes feature stories as well as the magazine's online science column. From 2002 to 2007 she was the science columnist at The Wall Street Journal, writing "Science Journal."

Begley has received numerous awards for her work. In 2009, she won the award for specialty magazine writing from the National Association of Black Journalists for her column "How Your Brain Looks at Race," The Genesis Award for Outstanding Written Word for "The Extinction Trade," from the Humane Society of the United States, and the Excellence in Statistical Reporting Award from the American Statistical Association for her body of work. In 2006, she won the American Aging Association Media Award for a series of columns on Alzheimer's disease; in 2005, she won the Public Understanding of Science Award from the Exploratorium, the science museum in San Francisco, and a Clarion Award from the Association for Women in Communications for her "Science Journal" column. In 2004, Begley received a Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters for Contributions to the public understanding of science from the University of North Carolina.

Begley earned a B.A. from Yale University. She is the co-author of the 2002 book, "The Mind and the Brain," and the author of the 2007 book "Train Your Mind, Change Your Brain."