Jacob Charles "Jack" Landau (April 10, 1934 – August 9, 2008) was an American journalist, attorney, government official, and free-speech activist. He was the founding first executive director of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.

Biography

Jack Landau was born to Jacob and Florence Landau (formerly Florence Binaghi). He spent his elementary school years in Englewood, New Jersey, but the family moved to New Rochelle, New York, when he was 12 years old. Landau attended New Rochelle High School, where he was a varsity swimmer and voted "most talkative boy." He then attended Harvard College, where he majored in history. After graduating from Harvard, Landau lived briefly in San Francisco, working retail jobs and trying to write fiction.

Prior to the establishment of the Reporters Committee, Landau worked as a journalist for several national news organizations including the Bergen Record, Associated Press and The Washington Post.

  • Honorary LLD, Colby College
  • Silver Gavel Award, American Bar Association
  • Fellows of the Society Award, Sigma Delta Chi Foundation, Society of Professional Journalists
  • Hugh M. Hefner First Amendment Award, 1985.

References

  • Jacob Landau (November 16, 1978 at Colby College), Convocation Address: The State of the First Amendment.