The career of John Stuart Hamilton encompasses both practicing and teaching journalism. Born May 11, 1899 in Wesfield, Marquette County, Wisconsin, he graduated from the University of Wisconsin with a B.A. in journalism in 1922, received an M.A. in 1931 from the same institution, and did further graduate work at Columbia University and Berlin University.
During the early 1920s Hamilton was a correspondent in Tokyo for several large newspapers. He left that city in 1923 to become city editor of the Hilo Tribune Herald. Two years later he moved to Paris to become director of the Press Bureau at the U.S. Embassy. In 1928 he joined the staff of the New York Times as copy editor.
Following the completion of his M.A., the School of Journalism at New York University appointed him assistant professor. In 1940 he became associate professor at the Columbia University School of Journalism, taking a leave in May 1941 to become Night Editor for the newly-reorganized War Department Public Relations Bureau. In 1942 he began a four-year association with Business Week magazine as a staff writer covering events in Washington. After the war Hamilton returned to teaching at Columbia.
Hamilton was married to Mathilde Rachel Hamilton. He died in Sarasota, Florida on April 28, 1986.
