Wilkins, Roger, 1932–2017, American government official, civil-rights activists, journalist, and educator, b. Kansas City, Mo., grad. Univ. of Michigan (B.A., 1953; LL.B. 1956); nephew of Roy Wilkins. He served in the Kennedy and Johnson administrations, campaigning for passage of the civil rights and voting rights acts and becoming assistant attorney general (1966–69). After a stint at the Ford Foundation, he worked columnist and journalist from 1972 at the Washington Post, New York Times, Washington Star, and (from 1980) National Public Radio. In 1973 he shared the Pulitzer Prize for public service for his editorial writing on the Watergate Affair for the Post. He also was a senior fellow (1982–92) at the Institute for Policy Studies and a professor of history and culture (1988–2007) at George Mason Univ.
See his autobiography (1982).
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