Howard W. French

Howard Waring French, born October 14, 1957 in Washington, D.C., is an internationally recognized journalist, author, photographer, and Columbia University professor. Formerly a bureau chief and senior writer for The New York Times, he covered pivotal global events across Africa and Asia over two decades of foreign correspondence.

His celebrated books—including Born in Blackness, Everything Under the Heavens, and A Continent for the Taking—offer powerful reframings of African agency and China’s global role. As a documentary photographer, French created the acclaimed Disappearing Shanghai project.

He currently teaches journalism and photography at Columbia, serves on the board of Columbia Journalism Review, and has earned fellowships and awards from organizations like the Hurston/Wright Foundation and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.