Meet Dan Neil, Pulitzer Prize Winning Automotive Critic

Dan Neil (MA, English ’86) says he was a “singularly unpromising candidate” when he arrived at NC State for a master’s degree in English. He gives a lot of credit to English Prof. Mike Grimwood, who Neil says spent an inordinate amount of time teaching him the basics of grammar and giving him the tools he needed to be a writer.

Neil went on to write automotive columns for the News and Observer, The L.A. Times, and now, for the Wall Street Journal. In the process, he earned a Pulitzer Prize for his writing.

Neil appears prominently in the documentary film, Revenge of the Electric Car. The video above was produced by Jim Alchediak of the Department of Communication.