14 Facts About Susan Tifft

Susan Tifft was an American journalist, author, and educator.

Susan Tifft grew up there and in St Louis, where her father moved for his work in the early 1960s.

Susan Tifft had a younger brother and sister, as well as an older brother who died as a child in Maine.

Susan Tifft attended Duke University, where she was the commencement speaker and became the second-ever Young Trustee.

Susan Tifft graduated in 1973 with a bachelor's degree in English.

Susan Tifft wrote for campus newspaper The Chronicle and for The Archive, a student literary magazine.

Susan Tifft used that specialized knowledge to obtain jobs in Washington, DC, including serving as assistant press secretary at the Federal Election Commission, press secretary at the 1980 Democratic National Convention, and a speechwriter for the Carter-Mondale presidential election campaign.

In 1982, Susan Tifft began working at Time magazine covering national politics.

Susan Tifft eventually rose to associate editor before leaving the magazine in 1991.

Susan Tifft received one of her early breaks in 1986, when she happened to be working late when word arrived that Ferdinand Marcos had fled the Philippines.

From 1998 to 2009, Tifft served as the Eugene C Patterson Professor of the Practice of Journalism at the Sanford School of Public Policy at Duke University.

Susan Tifft shared the Patterson chair with Jones until the fall of 2000, when she became the sole Patterson professor.

Susan Tifft was a popular professor who received good ratings from students, although she was very demanding.

Susan Tifft was diagnosed with metastatic endometrial cancer on August 7,2007, and began chemotherapy on August 27.