Maria Balinska
American journalist
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Maria Balinska (born 1960) is an American journalist and author who was the Executive Director of the US-UK Fulbright Commission from 2019 to 2025.[2]
Maria Balinska | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1960 (age 65–66) New Jersey, US |
| Education | Princeton University[1] |
| Occupations | Journalist, author |
| Father | Michel Balinski |
Biography
Balinska was born in New Jersey, US and attended 10 schools in five countries before attending Princeton University, where she earned her bachelor's degree in 1982.[3]
According to her, she became interested in journalism after the fall of Communism, reporting on the transformation of Poland as a freelance journalist.[4]
She spent a decade as a radio producer and then Editor World Current Affairs at BBC.[5][6] In 2008 she published The Bagel, which presents a history of the bagel, tracing its roots from ancient Rome to Poland to its flourishing in America.[7][8][9] In 2010 she was a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University.[10] In 2011, she founded Latitude News.[1][11] That same year, she served as part of the launch team for The Conversation, later the Managing Editor and subsequently Editor-in-Chief.[12]
From 2019 to 2025, Balinska served as the Executive Director of the US-UK Fulbright Commission.[13]
Since 2025, she has been a Practitioner Associate with the Department of Politics and International Relations at the University of Oxford.[14]
Books
- The Bagel: The Surprising History of a Modest Bread: Maria Balinska, Yale University Press, 2009, ISBN 9780300158205