Meet Alexander R. Cohen

Writing editorials for The Blade is my first full-time job in journalism, the profession I’d been taking a circuitous route toward since high school.

That circuitous route went through law school and graduate school in philosophy. During my student years, I did a Dow Jones Newspaper Fund copy-editing internship at The Miami Herald and helped a nationally known libertarian journalist launch his syndicated column. And I built up about a decade of student-press experience, including as founder and editor in chief of two student papers.

I’m a native New Yorker and a graduate of New York City public schools. My bachelor’s is in journalism from American University; my law degree is from the University of Pennsylvania; my master’s in philosophy is from the City University of New York Graduate Center; and I spent five years at the University of Virginia studying philosophy at the doctoral level, but did not complete the Ph.D. I am a non-practicing attorney admitted in New York.

I have taught undergraduate courses on bioethics and constitutional law. For The Atlas Society, where I worked for several years, I wrote columns and blog posts, edited one book and copy edited others, and gave lectures on Objectivist philosophy.

If all this doesn’t make me sound nerdy enough, I’m a big fan of Harry Potter, Firefly, Star Trek TNG, the novels of Robert A. Heinlein, and the music of Marian Call. If you sing me any line from Les Miserables, I can probably sing you the next one. And I ride a trike.

Alexander’s email address is acohen@theblade.com and his work extension is 6522. Welcome to The Blade, Alexander.