{{Short description|American academic (born 1970)}} {{About|the technology journalist|the United States federal judge|Sri Srinivasan}} {{Infobox person | name = Sreenath Sreenivasan | image = Sree Sreenivasan in New York, July 2016. Photo by Lia Chang.jpg{{!}}border | image_size = | caption = Sree Sreenivasan in New York, July 2016 | native_name = | birth_name = | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|mf=yes|1970|10|28}} | birth_place = Tokyo, Japan | death_date = | death_place = | citizenship = U.S.A. | education = Columbia University, St. Stephen's College | occupation = | employer = Stony Brook University | spouse = Roopa Unnikrishnan | partner = | children = 2 | parents = T. P. Sreenivasan, Lekha Sreenivasan | relatives = | website = https://www.digimentors.group/ }} '''Sreenath "Sree" Sreenivasan''' (born October 28, 1970)<ref name="mediabistro2010">{{cite web|url=http://www.mediabistro.com/articles/details.asp?aID=10841& |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121107230240/http://www.mediabistro.com/articles/details.asp?aID=10841& |url-status=dead |archive-date=November 7, 2012 |title=So What Do You Do, Sree Sreenivasan, Columbia Journalism School Dean? |publisher=Mediabistro |date=April 7, 2010 |first=Aliya S. |last=King |accessdate=November 1, 2014 }}</ref> is an academic and practitioner in journalism and communications, serving as the inaugural Marshall R. Loeb visiting professor at Stony Brook University School of Journalism in New York.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://journalism.cc.stonybrook.edu/?p=11763|title=Sree Sreenivasan Named Inaugural Marshall R. Loeb Visiting Professor|date=2019-09-09|website=Stony Brook University – School of Journalism|language=en-US|access-date=2019-09-09}}</ref> He was previously chief digital officer at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and chief digital officer of Columbia University. He also served as chief digital officer of the City of New York from October 2016 through May 2017.<ref name="nypost.com">{{Cite web|url=https://nypost.com/2017/05/18/de-blasios-chief-digital-officer-leaves-administration/|title=De Blasio's chief digital officer leaves administration|date=2017-05-18|access-date=2017-06-14}}</ref> He has been a technology journalist based in New York City<ref name="NY Times">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/27/arts/artsspecial/so-many-stories-to-tell-for-mets-digital-chief.html?_r=1&|title=So Many Stories to Tell for Met's Digital Chief|last=Preston|first=Jennifer|date=October 25, 2013|newspaper=The New York Times|accessdate=30 October 2013}}</ref> and served as an academic administrator and professor in the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. In 2015, he was named one of Fast Company magazine's Most Creative People of the year.<ref name="fast_Sree">{{Cite web | title = Most Creative People 2015: Sree Sreenivasan | work = Fast Company | date = June 2015 | accessdate = 2015-06-17 | url = http://www.fastcompany.com/3043932/most-creative-people-2015/sree-sreenivasan }}</ref> He was also identified as the most influential Chief Digital Officer of 2016 by CDO Club.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://cdoclub.com/cdo-club-identifies-the-top-ten-most-influential-chief-digital-officers-on-klout/|title=CDO Club Identifies the Top Ten Most Influential Chief Digital Officers on Klout - CDO Club|last=Mathison|first=David|website=CDO Club|date=10 March 2014 |language=en-US|access-date=2016-06-14}}</ref>
==Early life== Sreenivasan was born in Tokyo, Japan, to Indian Malayali parents T. P. Sreenivasan, Indian former diplomat, and Lekha Sreenivasan, both hailing from Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India.<ref name="Rediff.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.rediff.com/news/column/an-indian-in-america/20130708.htm |title=An Indian in America - Rediff.com India News |work=Rediff.com |date=2013-07-08 |accessdate=2014-03-03}}</ref> He grew up in USSR, United States, Fiji, and India. His family often relocated due to his father being a diplomat for the Indian government, he later retired.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nysun.com/business/covering-technology-in-the-morning-teaching/8484/|title=Covering Technology in the Morning, Teaching Journalism During the Day|publisher=New York Sun|author=Simou, Alexandra|date=January 31, 2005}}</ref> He attended kindergarten in Moscow; P.S. 6, a public elementary school, in Manhattan; Marist Brothers High School in Suva, Fiji; and St. Stephen's College in Delhi, India. He received a Master of Science degree in journalism from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in 1993.<ref name="mediabistro2010"/>
==Career== Sreenivasan was on the faculty of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism from 1993 to 2013 as a professor of professional practice. His courses at Columbia focused on new media, web design, and social media in the practice of journalism, as well as media entrepreneurship. As an adjunct professor in subsequent years, he ran workshops for professional journalists on the advanced use of the Internet and multimedia reporting.
In 2005, Sreenivasan was appointed dean of students at the journalism school,<ref name=ms>{{cite news |title=Gopal Raju, pioneer in Indian ethnic press, dies in NY |url=http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/4/12/apworld/20080412090428&sec=apworld |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121005002755/http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=%2F2008%2F4%2F12%2Fapworld%2F20080412090428&sec=apworld |url-status=dead |archive-date=2012-10-05 |agency=Associated Press |publisher=Malaysia Star |date=2008-04-12 |access-date=2008-05-03 }}</ref> overseeing student-oriented programs. He is the former advisor to the school's chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists and won the David Eshelman Award for Outstanding Campus Advisor in 1998.<ref>[http://www.spj.org/a-eshelman.asp SPJ David Eshelman Outstanding Campus Adviser Award]</ref> In 2008, he was named dean of student affairs,<ref>[http://www.journalism.columbia.edu/cs/ContentServer/jrn/1165270051276/JRN_Profile_C/1165270081427/JRNFacultyDetail.htm Sreenivasan faculty page] {{webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20071219042006/http://www.journalism.columbia.edu/cs/ContentServer/jrn/1165270051276/JRN_Profile_C/1165270081427/JRNFacultyDetail.htm |date=2007-12-19 }}</ref> supervising admissions, student services and career services at the school. On July 11, 2012, Columbia University named Sreenivasan its first chief digital officer.<ref>{{cite news |last=Hesseldahl |first=Arik |date=July 11, 2012 |title=Columbia University Names Sree Sreenivasan Its First Chief Digital Officer |url=https://allthingsd.com/20120711/columbia-university-names-sree-sreenivasan-its-first-chief-digital-officer |work=All Things Digital |location=New York |publisher=Dow Jones |access-date=March 30, 2025}}</ref><ref>[http://www.fastcompany.com/1842674/columbia-university-first-chief-digital-officer-sree-sreenivasan Columbia Amps Online Courses, Appoints Sree Sreenivasan First Chief Digital Officer], Fast Company. By Christina Chaey. 12 July 2012. Retrieved 12 July 2012.</ref>
thumb|Sree Sreenivasan teaching a social media class in Times Square, NYC thumb|Sree Sreenivasan giving address at 2016 Columbia Journalism Alumni Awards thumb|Sreenivasan speaking at a Wikipedia event at Columbia University in 2024 Sreenivasan was appointed the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Chief Digital Officer in August 2013. In this role he supervised 70 employees throughout the museum.<ref name="NY Times"/>
Sreenivasan helped found SAJA, the South Asian Journalists Association, a group of more than 1,000<ref>[http://www.saja.org/aboutus South Asian Journalists Association information page] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120221144648/http://saja.org/aboutus |date=2012-02-21 }}</ref> journalists of South Asian origin in the U.S. and Canada. He was the association's first president and continues to sit on its board, while also serving as an editor and writer of SAJAforum, one of the most widely read South Asian news and analysis blogs. He was also named by "UNITY: Journalists of Color" in a seed list of one of the 100 top journalists of the century.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://unityjournalists.org/news/unity-journalists-seeds-list-of-top-journalists-of-the-past-century/|title=UNITY Journalists seeds list of top journalists of the past century - UNITY: Journalists for Diversity|date=2012-04-03|language=en-US|access-date=2016-08-01}}</ref>
For six years, he was WABC-TV's "Tech Guru", before moving to WNBC-TV in January 2007 to become its technology reporter. He appeared twice a week on air and on WNBC.com until January 2009. From 2009 through 2011, Sreenivasan helped launch and develop DNAinfo.com, a hyper-local Manhattan-centric news startup, launched by TD Ameritrade founder and Chicago Cubs owner Joe Ricketts.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/about-us/our-team/editorial-team/sree-sreenivasan|title=Sree Sreenivasan - Editorial Team|website=DNAinfo New York|access-date=2016-06-14|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160219124733/https://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/about-us/our-team/editorial-team/sree-sreenivasan|archive-date=2016-02-19}}</ref>
He has contributed more than 50 articles to ''The New York Times'' on business and technology, and has hosted more than 40 episodes of his own podcast, the @SREE SHOW, for CBS Radio.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/sree-show/id951183321?mt=2|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160506134005/https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/sree-show/id951183321?mt=2|url-status=dead|archive-date=May 6, 2016|title=@Sree Show by play.it on iTunes|website=iTunes|access-date=2016-06-14}}</ref>
In May 2016, Sreenivasan made news headlines by spearheading an effort to boycott participation in all-male panels, conferences, and events.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://nymag.com/thecut/2016/05/all-male-panels-death-knell.html|title=Death to the All-Male Panel|date=2016-05-09|access-date=2016-08-01}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-36333700|title=The men who are taking a stand against 'dude fests' - BBC News|work=BBC News |date=22 May 2016 |language=en-GB|access-date=2016-08-01}}</ref> He would later update this to also pledging not to attend any all-male panels.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.poynter.org/2016/why-sree-sreenivasan-is-boycotting-all-male-panels/409460/|title=Why Sree Sreenivasan is boycotting all-male panels|date=2016-05-02|language=en-US|access-date=2016-08-01}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://fortune.com/2016/05/13/boycotting-all-male-panels/|title=These Powerful Men Are Boycotting All-Male Panels|date=2016-05-13|website=Fortune|access-date=2016-08-01}}</ref>
In 2016, after three years at the top digital post at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, he announced he was leaving amidst the museum's financial troubles. Although Met president Daniel Weiss called Sreenivasan "a superstar", the museum faced a looming deficit, hovering between $9 million and $10 million.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/met-museum-to-cut-spending-as-deficit-looms-1461287217|title=Met Museum to Cut Spending as Deficit Looms|last=Smith|first=Jennifer|date=2016-04-22|newspaper=Wall Street Journal|issn=0099-9660|access-date=2016-08-01}}</ref> This financial predicament led the Met to part ways with Sreenivasan and other high-profile executives, such as Cynthia Round, its senior vice president for marketing and external relations, and Susan Sellers, head of design.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/20/arts/design/3-leaders-at-the-metropolitan-museum-of-art-step-down.html|title=3 Leaders at the Metropolitan Museum of Art Step Down|last=Chow|first=Andrew R.|date=2016-06-19|newspaper=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331|access-date=2016-08-01}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://qz.com/711943/sree-sreenivasan-how-to-spin-getting-fired-from-your-high-profile-job-into-a-delightful-digital-campaign/|title=The Met ousted a top executive, so he used Facebook to show the world how to do unemployment right|last=Avins|first=Jenni|date=23 June 2016 |language=en-US|access-date=2016-08-01}}</ref> At the Met, Sreenivasan led the redesign of their website and the development of a smartphone app.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/three-met-museum-leaders-depart-1466206079|title=Three Met Museum Leaders Depart|last=Smith|first=Jennifer|date=2016-06-18|newspaper=Wall Street Journal|issn=0099-9660|access-date=2016-08-01}}</ref>
On August 1, 2016, Sreenivasan was named chief digital officer of New York City by its mayor, Bill de Blasio.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www1.nyc.gov/office-of-the-mayor/news/636-16/mayor-de-blasio-sree-sreenivasan-city-s-new-chief-digital-officer|title=Mayor de Blasio Announces Sree Sreenivasan As City's New Chief Digital Officer|date=2016-08-01|access-date=2016-08-01}}</ref> He left the role on May 12, 2017.<ref name="nypost.com"/>
== Accolades == * In 2004, Newsweek magazine named him one of the 20 most influential South Asians in the U.S.<ref name="news_POWE">{{Cite web | title = Power and Influence | work = Newsweek | date = 2014-03-21 | accessdate = 2015-06-17 | url = http://www.newsweek.com/power-and-influence-123791 }}</ref> * In 2007, India Abroad named him<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.rediff.com/us/sreesreenivasan_top50.html|title=India Abroad: The 50 Most Influential Indian Americans |website=rediff.com |access-date=2016-08-01}}</ref> one of the 50 most Influential Indian Americans in the U.S. * In 2009, he was named one of AdAge's 25 media people to follow on Twitter<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://adage.com/article/media/25-media-people-follow-twitter/136967/|title=25 Media People You Should Follow on Twitter|website=adage.com|date=29 May 2009 |access-date=2016-06-14}}</ref> * In 2010, Quill magazine, published by the Society of Professional Journalists, named him one of 20 journalists to follow on Twitter<ref>[http://www.journalism.columbia.edu/news/26 SPJ names four alumni 'journalists to follow' on Twitter] {{webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20120805194909/http://www.journalism.columbia.edu/news/26 |date=2012-08-05 }}</ref> * In 2010, he was named one of Poynter Institute's 35 most influential people in social media<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.poynter.org/2010/help-poynter-select-35-influential-people-in-social-media/105306/|title=Help Poynter Select 35 Influential People in Social Media|date=2010-08-30|website=Poynter|language=en-US|access-date=2016-06-14}}</ref> * In 2015, he was named one of Fast Company magazine's Most Creative People of the year at number 39.<ref name="fast_Sree" /> * In 2016, he won the Columbia University School of Journalism Alumni Award<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.journalism.columbia.edu/news/1515|title=Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism 2016 Alumni Awards|website=www.journalism.columbia.edu|access-date=2016-06-14|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160406151502/http://www.journalism.columbia.edu/news/1515|archive-date=2016-04-06}}</ref>
==Personal life== He became a US Citizen in 2013.<ref name="Rediff.com"/> He is married to Roopa Unnikrishnan.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://archives.deccanchronicle.com/130810/news-current-affairs/article/arjuna-award-winner-helps-shoot-consumer-problems|title=Arjuna award winner helps shoot consumer problems|publisher=Deccan Chronicle|date=2013-10-08|access-date=2014-03-03|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150714040417/http://archives.deccanchronicle.com/130810/news-current-affairs/article/arjuna-award-winner-helps-shoot-consumer-problems|archive-date=2015-07-14}}</ref>
==See also== * Indians in the New York City metropolitan region * New Yorkers in journalism
== References == {{Reflist}}
==External links== *[http://www.digimentors.group Digimentors] professional site *[https://web.archive.org/web/20040401090223/http://www.ojr.org/ojr/education/1077755580.php Meet Columbia's New Media Guru] OJR.org *[https://web.archive.org/web/20060831094629/http://www.sree.net/quotes/nysun2006.htm An Evangelist for Technology Who Helped Invent the Game] New York Sun
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Sreenivasan, Sreenath}} Category:Living people Category:American academics of Indian descent Category:American male journalists Category:American writers of Indian descent Category:Columbia University faculty Category:Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism faculty Category:1970 births Category:Digital media educators Category:Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism alumni Category:Chief digital officers Category:People educated at Suva Grammar School Category:American people of Malayali descent