BARBARA STRAUCH (1952-2015) was Science Editor of The New York Times. She is the author of two books, The Secret Life of the Grown-up Brain, on the surprising talents of the middle-aged mind, published in April 2010, and The Primal Teen, on the teenage brain.
Strauch was a writer and editor for 35 years, covering everything from City Hall to medicine and space shuttle missions at newspapers in New York, Boston and Houston. As Science Editor, she coordinated health coverage throughout The New York Times and helped oversee the paper’s new health website.
She started at The Times as the media editor 15 years ago. She was an assistant editor on the National Desk for several years, before moving to the Science Department to run the paper’s health and medical coverage.
Before joining The Times, she was senior editor at Newsday, where she was a reporter and then directed Pulitzer Prize-winning New York City coverage. She was also business editor and deputy city editor. She graduated from the University of California at Berkeley.
She lived in Westchester County, New York, with her husband and two daughters.
