Gillian Tett
British journalist (born 1967)
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Gillian Romaine Tett OBE (born 10 July 1967) is a British author and journalist who serves as a member of the editorial board for the Financial Times and provost of King's College, Cambridge.[1][4][5][6][7] She writes weekly columns, covering a range of economic, financial, political and social issues. Tett co-founded Moral Money, the paper's sustainability newsletter.
Gillian Tett | |
|---|---|
Gillian Tett in 2014 | |
| Provost of King's College, Cambridge | |
| Assumed office October 2023 | |
| Preceded by | Michael Proctor |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Gillian Romaine Tett 10 July 1967[1][2] |
| Citizenship | British |
| Children | 2 |
| Education | North London Collegiate School |
| Alma mater | University of Cambridge (MA, PhD)[3] |
| Occupation | Journalist |
Awards | President's Medal (2011) |
| Website | www |
| Academic background | |
| Thesis | Ambiguous alliances : marriage and identity in a Muslim village in Soviet Tajikistan (1996) |
Her work covering the 2008 financial crisis[8][9] received extensive media attention for its prescient coverage of the financial instruments that led to the 2008 financial crisis.[10][11][12][13]
Early life and education
Tett was born on 10 July 1967[1][14] and privately educated at the North London Collegiate School, in the London Borough of Harrow in northwest London.[15] Aged 17, she worked for a Pakistani nonprofit.[11]
After leaving school, Tett studied at the University of Cambridge where she was an undergraduate student at Clare College, Cambridge, graduating in 1989 with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in Archaeology and Anthropology.[16][1] She was subsequently awarded a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree in social anthropology in 1996 for field research in Tajikistan in the former Soviet Union.[17][18][19] She expressed frustration with the discipline of academic anthropology which, in accordance with the prevailing postmodernism, had become so self-critical that it appeared to be committing a variety of "intellectual suicide".[11] Instead, she decided to pursue a career in journalism.[20]
Career
In 1993, Tett joined the Financial Times as a correspondent from the former Soviet Union and Europe. In 1997, she was posted to Tokyo, where she later became bureau chief.[18] In 2003, she became deputy head of the Lex column.[21][22][23][24] Tett was then U.S. managing editor at the FT, before working as an assistant editor and columnist before returning to the U.S. managing editor position.[18][25] She also serves as Chair of the board of trustees for the Knight-Bagehot Fellowship Program in Economics and Business Journalism with Columbia University.
From 2005 to 2007, Tett conducted ethnographic research on the American banking institution J.P. Morgan and discovered that the insular culture was leading to the creation of financial instruments that had little basis and that could cause severe economic disruption. In a series of articles in the Financial Times between 2006–07, she wrote about the dangers posed by securitization and financial derivatives, and the unreliability of credit rating agencies.[26][27][28][29][11] Her 2009 book Fool's Gold: How the Bold Dream of a Small Tribe at J.P. Morgan Was Corrupted by Wall Street Greed and Unleashed a Catastrophe[30] recounts the lead-up to the economic crisis and the eventual collapse. She also played a significant role in the 2010 documentary Inside Job about the 2008 financial crisis.[11] The book was widely reviewed throughout the English-speaking world[31][32] and won the Spear's Book Award for the financial book of 2009.[33][34]
Anthro-Vision, a New Way to See in Life and Business,[16] published in June 2021, concerns the behaviour of organizations, individuals, and markets by looking through an anthropological lens.[citation needed]
King's College, Cambridge
In February 2023, she was appointed Provost of King's College, Cambridge.[35] where she has served since October 2023, succeeding Michael Proctor.[36]
Awards and honours
- 2007, Wincott prize for financial journalism (capital markets coverage)[37]
- 2008, Business Journalist of the Year, British Press Awards[38]
- 2009, Journalist of the Year, British Press Awards[39]
- 2009, Financial Book of the Year (for Fool's Gold)[40][41]
- 2011, President's Medal of the British Academy.[42]
- 2012, Business Communicator of the Year, UK Speechwriters' Guild
- 2012, Society of American Business Editors and Writers Award for best feature article, for Madoff spins his story
- 2013, Honorary doctorate, Baruch College of the City University of New York[43]
- 2014, Columnist of the Year, British Press Awards
- 2015, Honorary degree, Lancaster University[44]
- 2016, Honorary degree, University of Exeter.[45]
- 2016, Honorary degree, University of Miami[46][47]
- 2017, Honorary fellowship, Goldsmiths, University of London.[48]
- 2017, Tepper School of Business Award for Professional Excellence, Carnegie Mellon University[49]
- 2017, Foreign Commentator of the Year, Editorial Intelligence[50]
- 2019, Best in Business Honorees, Newsletter, Moral Money[51]
- 2019, Honorary degree, University of St Andrews[52]
- 2020, Winner, Newsletter Category, Moral Money[53]
Books
Tett's published books include:
- Saving the Sun: How Wall Street Mavericks Shook Up Japan's Financial World and Made Billions (2004)[54]
- Fool's Gold: How Unrestrained Greed Corrupted a Dream, Shattered Global Markets and Unleashed a Catastrophe (2009)[30][55][56][57]
- The Silo Effect: The Peril of Expertise and the Promise of Breaking Down Barriers (2015)[58]
- Anthro-Vision: A New Way to See in Business and Life (2009)[16]
Personal life
Tett lives in London, England and has two children.[59] She was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2024 New Year Honours for services to economic journalism.[1][60] She is a member of the Overseas Press Club.[1]
