Wilson Center Experts

Richard Whittle is a writer specializing in military affairs and author of The Dream Machine: The Untold History of the Notorious V-22 Osprey (Simon & Schuster, 2010). A Senior Scholar at the Smithsonian Institution’s Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, Whittle is also a Visiting Scholar at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies, a regular contributor to AOL Defense, and a Contributing Editor for Defense Technology International. From 1984-2006, he covered the Pentagon and other Washington beats for The Dallas Morning News. He previously covered defense and foreign policy for Congressional Quarterly and was an editor at National Public Radio. His articles have been published in the Christian Science Monitor, a wide range of other newspapers and magazines, and on The Atlantic Monthly web site. He has appeared on “The Daily Show With Jon Stewart,” C-SPAN, National Public Radio and a variety of other television and radio broadcasts.

Fluent in German, Whittle also speaks conversational French. He has written in German for newspapers including Die Zeit (Hamburg), Neue Zürcher Zeitung (Zurich) and Süddeutsche Zeitung (Munich), and has served as an occasional guest commentator on German and Swiss public radio.

Education

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (1974-75)Graduate study in journalism; reporter for The Daily Tar Heel
College of William & Mary, Williamsburg, Va. (1974) Graduate study, School of Government
High Point College, High Point, N.C. (1969-73) A.B., History & Political Science. Dean's List. Reporter for college newspaper and news bureau.