David Martosko '91

David Martosko '91 -- US Political editor, The Daily Mail (London)

I worked with some wonderful music teachers at Dartmouth, and they encouraged me to attend a top-flight conservatory for a graduate degree in orchestra conducting. The process taught me that sometimes the most important person on stage is the one who works with performers to coax the best out of them, yet doesn't make a sound himself. It's the same dynamic I've found in newsrooms, where an editor can set a publication's tone and manage its quality control, even though his name is seldom on a news story. I wouldn't understand my role in journalism without my Dartmouth experience.