Spring Fellow Carolyn Hax '84

On Friday, April 13, writer and advice columnist, Carolyn Hax '84 returned to Hopkins as the 2012 Spring Fellow. Carolyn addressed the School in a heart-felt and incredibly personal speech at assembly that touched on the triumphs and heartbreaks of her life. Students and faculty, as well as members of her family, were moved by her honesty, humility and humor. Carolyn spent the morning meeting with classes and offering pearls of wisdom as well as personal experiences about her life at Hopkins and beyond. Carolyn's visit culminated in a special lunch in the Alumni/ae House with family and former teachers.

Carolyn has worked at The Washington Post since 1992 and has been in the news business since 1989 as an editor, freelance writer, and full-time advice columnist. She assumed her current position in 1997 after dismissing several advice columns as out-of-date, saying to her editor, “What you need is a snotty thirty-year-old to write one.” She was 30 at the time. In her column, Carolyn approaches people’s letters as word problems and, instead of telling people what to do, suggests new ways to think about their situations, so they can find solutions that meet their individual needs. In 2002, she went from writing one column a week to writing three when Ann Landers’s death made room for a new generation of columnists. Carolyn also conducts weekly live discussions on washingtonpost.com, writes three original columns per week, and creates four more by adapting and refining the live discussions. Carolyn lives in Washington, D.C., with her husband, Kenny Ackerman ’86, and their three children, all of whom learned to walk in the Hopkins gym.

See the video of Carolyn Hax's assembly address above.