Press Release—In Memoriam: Claudia A. Rosett-Wilson (1955-2023)

With deep sadness, The Jamestown Foundation mourns the loss of award-winning journalist Claudia Rosett-Wilson.

Mrs. Rosett-Wilson was a close personal friend to several members of the Jamestown board, and Jamestown President Glen Howard described her as a longtime and trusted friend and supporter of the Foundation. Mrs. Rosett-Wilson was known for her brilliant and lively contributions at many of Jamestown’s China-related events.

Mrs. Rosett-Wilson was a staff writer at the Wall Street Journal from 1984-2002, serving as bureau chief in Moscow, editorial-page editor of the Asian Wall Street Journal in Hong Kong, and eventually as a member of the editorial board. Known best for her hard-hitting investigative journalism, Mrs. Rosett-Wilson was the only major US print reporter present during the Tiananmen Square Massacre in 1989. She also broke or provided leading coverage for a number of major stories during her career, to include: Russia’s utilization of North Korean slave labor; the First Chechen War and the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; and the UN Oil-for-Food scandal, which allowed Saddam Hussein to capture $1.8 billion in economic assistance meant for the Iraqi people.

Mrs. Rosett-Wilson authored a book, What To Do About the UN, which published in 2017, and was an active contributor to the New York Times, the City Journal, the New York Sun, and the Dallas Morning News, in addition to the Wall Street Journal. Mrs. Rosett-Wilson made frequent TV and radio appearances, and testified before the US Congress six times on matters relating to the national interest. She received the Overseas Press Club Citation for Excellence for her coverage of Tiananmen Square, as well as the Journalism Leadership Eagle Award, the Eric Breindel Award, and the Mightier Pen Award. Mrs. Rosett-Wilson was a graduate of Yale and Columbia Universities (receiving a BA and MA in English, respectively), and the Chicago School of Business.