Success After Gallatin

Gallatin undergraduate students are committed to distinctive and unique educational endeavors.  This drive, nurtured by faculty and advisers, provides students with the tools needed to become creative thinkers and eclectic career-builders.  Our alumni include notable best-selling authors, film directors, CEOs, composers, attorneys, journalists, architect and Tony Award-winning producers, among many others.

Life After Gallatin Profile: John Ridley ('87)

The producer of NBC's "Third Watch," Ridley has written the scripts for feature films such as: Three Kings, Undercover Brother, Cold Around the Heart, and Red Tails, which will soon be released by George Lucas.  He is the author of seven published novels, including the critically acclaimed Stray Dogs, which Oliver Stone made into the movie U-Turn in 1997. Collectively, his works have been chosen as editor's picks or "best of the year" by the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, Entertainment Weekly and the Baltimore Sun.

As a TV personality and political commentator, Ridley has appeared on: NBC's "The Today Show," PBS's "The News Hour," CBS's "Late Show with David Letterman," and MSNBC's "Morning Joe." He has been a regular contributor to the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, Esquire magazine, and NPR's "Morning Edition," and he is the Founding Editor of That Minority Thing, a nonpartisan news website. Ridley received his BA from Gallatin in 1987 and currently resides in Los Angeles.