Deborah Scroggins (November 27, 1961 in Atlanta, Georgia) is an American journalist and author. She heads the Research and Analysis Directorate, Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction.[1]

Deborah Scroggins
Born (1961-11-27) November 27, 1961 (age 62)
Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.
Occupation
  • Journalist
  • author
Alma materTulane University
Columbia University

Early life

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Deborah Lane Scroggins[2] was born 27 November 1961, in Atlanta, Georgia,[3] as the daughter of Gloria (née Baker, a personnel agent) and Frank William Scroggins (a lawyer[4]).[5]

Scroggins graduated in the Class of 1978 at Chamblee High School.[2]

She is a graduate of Tulane University, B.A., 1982 and Columbia University, Master of International Affairs,[6] 1985.[5]

Scroggins received the ITT International Fellowship, Institute of International Education, 1982-1983, for a year of independent study, in Denmark.

Career

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She was a free-lance writer, for Inter Press Service, 1984-1985. She was an editor, United Nations Association of New York, in New York City, 1985-1987.[5]

She was a reporter and editor for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution from 1987 to 1998,[3] and a foreign correspondent for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution from 1988 to 1993.[1] She later served as assistant political editor at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.[1]

She has written for Granta, The Independent, The Sunday Times Magazine, Vogue and other publications.[1]

Colin Campbell[7] and Deborah Scroggins won The Eric and Amy Burger Award 1988, from the Overseas Press Club of America, for "The Famine Weapon in the Horn of Africa".[8]

She won Georgia Author of the Year, 2003,[2][9] two Overseas Press Club Awards, a Sigma Delta Chi Award, and the Robert F. Kennedy Award for her coverage of Africa and Asia, including Afghanistan.[1]

Her book Emma's War: An Aid Worker, Radical Islam and the Politics of Oil - A True Story of Love and Death in the Sudan[10][11][12][13] is about Emma McCune, a British aid worker who married Sudanese warlord Riek Machar. It won the 2003 Ron Ridenhour Award for Truth-Telling.[14][15][16]

Director Tony Scott had planned to direct a film based on the book and initial reports indicated that Nicole Kidman would star as McCune.[17] The project was in development at the time of Scott's death in 2012; its fate following Scott's death remains unclear.[18]

Scroggins has also written a second book: Wanted Women: Faith, Lies, and the War on Terror: The Lives of Ayaan Hirsi Ali and Aafia Siddiqui,[19] an examination of the militant Islam movement through the lives of two women on opposite sides of the spectrum: Ayaan Hirsi Ali and Aafia Siddiqui.[20][21][22][23]

Personal life

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Scroggins married Colin Campbell,[24][25][26][27][28][29][30] February 20, 1993.[5] They have two daughters.[5][31]

Works

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  • Emma's War: An Aid Worker, a Warlord, Radical Islam, the Politics of Oil and Slaves — A True Story of Love and Death in Sudan. New York: Vintage. 2002. ISBN 9780307808851. OCLC 70772490.
  • Wanted Women: Faith, Lies, and the War on Terror: The Lives of Ayaan Hirsi Ali and Aafia Siddiqui. Harper Collins. 17 January 2012. ISBN 9780062097958.

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e "Deborah Scroggins - Director of Research and Analysis". Leadership. SIGAR.mil. Archived from the original on June 5, 2024. Retrieved 2 August 2024.
  2. ^ a b c "Deborah Lane Scroggins, Class of 1978". Hall of Fame 2013. Chamblee High School Blue & Gold Foundation. Retrieved 2 August 2024.
  3. ^ a b "Deborah Scroggins." Contemporary Authors Online. Detroit: Gale, 2007.
  4. ^ "Frank Scroggins Obituary". Legacy.com. 13 August 2010. Retrieved 2 August 2024.
  5. ^ a b c d e Deborah Scroggins 1961- at Encyclopedia.com
  6. ^ "Master of International Affairs". School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University. Retrieved 2 August 2024.
  7. ^ Campbell, Colin (7 August 1994). "ON LANGUAGE; Bluespeak". The New York Times. Archived from the original on February 18, 2011. Retrieved 2 August 2024.
  8. ^ "The Eric and Amy Burger Award 1988". Overseas Press Club of America. 15 April 1989. Retrieved 2 August 2024.
  9. ^ "2006 Winners & Finalists". Georgia Author of the Year Awards. Retrieved 2 August 2024.
  10. ^ Bedell, Geraldine (9 March 2003). "A good woman in Africa". The Observer. Retrieved 2 August 2024.
  11. ^ Griswold, Eliza (27 January 2012). "Book Review: Islam and the West Through the Eyes of Two Women". The New York Times. Retrieved 2 August 2024.
  12. ^ "EMMA'S WAR". Kirkus Reviews. August 1, 2002. Retrieved 2 August 2024.
  13. ^ Goldberg, Michelle (12 December 2002). "'Emma's War' by Deborah Scroggins". Salon.com. Retrieved 2 August 2024.
  14. ^ Ridenhour Prize bio
  15. ^ SIPA Alumna Deborah Scroggins Wins Ron Ridenhour Truth-telling Award, Columbia News
  16. ^ "Deborah Scroggins". Ridenhour Prizes. Retrieved 2 August 2024.
  17. ^ Scroggins, Deborah (26 October 2007). "Beyond Darfur there is the plight of southern Sudan". independent.co.uk. Retrieved 2 August 2024. Deborah Scroggins is the author of 'Emma's War' (Harper Collins), which tells the story of a British aid worker who married a southern Sudanese rebel, and is now being made into a film
  18. ^ "South Sudan's rivals, Kiir and Machar". sg Yahoo News. AFP News. 16 August 2015. Retrieved 2 August 2024. Their love story was told in the book "Emma's War" by journalist Deborah Scroggins, a tale once touted in Hollywood as possible film material.
  19. ^ Scroggins, Deborah (2012). Wanted Women: Faith, Lies, and the War on Terror: The Lives of Ayaan Hirsi Ali and Aafia Siddiqui. Harper Collins. ISBN 9780062097958.
  20. ^ Foster, Jordan (October 14, 2011). "Muslim Women's Rights: Two Views: PW Talks with Deborah Scroggins". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 2 August 2024.
  21. ^ Roberts, Andrew (February 2, 2012). "British Historian Andrew Roberts Reviews Deborah Scroggins' 'Wanted Women'". Tablet Magazine. Archived from the original on 4 February 2012. Retrieved 2 August 2024.
  22. ^ Ahmed, Akbar (February 6, 2012). "After Words: Deborah Scroggins, "Wanted Women," hosted by Akbar Ahmed, American University". youtube. BookTV. Retrieved 2 August 2024.
  23. ^ Rhone, Nedra (February 17, 2012). "Author explores lives of wanted women in war on terror". Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Archived from the original on 2 August 2024. Retrieved 2 August 2024.
  24. ^ Campbell, Colin (15 October 1985). "PRESS COVERAGE CRITICIZED IN DISASTER IN PUERTO RICO". The New York Times. Archived from the original on May 24, 2015. Retrieved 2 August 2024.
  25. ^ "A City in Full: Venerable, Impatient Atlanta". archive.nytimes.com. Retrieved 2 August 2024.
  26. ^ Campbell, Colin (14 January 1994). "Opinion - Ghostly Residents Protest in Atlanta". The New York Times. Retrieved 2 August 2024.
  27. ^ "Colin Campbell". The New Republic. Retrieved 2 August 2024.
  28. ^ "Colin Campbell: Sturgis Library's Idea Man for the Vonnegut Festival". CapeCod.com. 3 October 2014. Retrieved 2 August 2024.
  29. ^ Edelstein, Ken (August 25, 2004). "Up with Gwinnett, down with columnists at the AJC". Creative Loafing. Retrieved 2 August 2024.
  30. ^ Campbell, Colin. "From 2001: My family tree". Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Archived from the original on August 16, 2021. Retrieved 2 August 2024.
  31. ^ Cater, Eleanor (February 24, 2012). "Time Out". bizjournals.com. Retrieved 2 August 2024.
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