Robert W. Merry, publishing executive and author, is President and Publisher of Congressional Quarterly Inc. (CQ), the Washington-based publishing company that specializes in news and information on Congress, politics and public policy. He is the author of “Taking On the World: Joseph and Stewart Alsop – Guardians of the American Century,” (Viking 1996). The New York Times called the biography a “rich and fascinating book …. a sensitive portrait, executed with …. critical acumen.” The book won an Ambassador Award from the New York-based English Speaking Union.

Mr. Merry was born March 5, 1946, in Tacoma, Washington. He received a bachelor’s degree in editorial journalism from the University of Washington, where he served as editor of the campus Daily and won two major awards for student journalism. Following three years in the Army, where he served as a language-qualified counterespionage agent in West Germany, he received a master’s degree from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism.

Mr. Merry began his career at the Denver Post, where he covered the Colorado Senate and local politics. After two years at the Post, he became a national political correspondent for the now-defunct National Observer, a Dow Jones newspaper. When it folded in 1977, Mr. Merry moved to the Washington bureau of The Wall Street Journal. During nine years at the Journal, Mr. Merry covered a wide range of subjects. As a labor reporter, he wrote about national politics and President Carter’s wage-price program. As a congressional correspondent in the early 1980s he covered President Reagan’s tax and budget initiatives and the 1983 Social Security bill. He covered the 1984 presidential campaign and spent two years as White House reporter. During this time, Mr. Merry made numerous appearances on public-affairs television programs, including “Meet the Press,” “Face the Nation,” “CNN’s Newsmakers,” “Good Morning America” and “C-SPAN.”

Mr. Merry joined CQ in 1987 as Managing Editor and in 1990 was promoted to Executive Editor. He became President and Publisher in January 1997. He also sits on the boards of directors of CQ and its parent company, Times Publishing Co. of St. Petersburg, Fla.

Mr. Merry lives with his wife, Susan, and family in McLean, Virginia.

This biographical information is taken with Robert Merry’s permission from the CQ web site.