Dominic Gates

Dominic Gates
Born	1954 or 1955 (age 69–70)[1] Dungannon, Northern Ireland
Alma mater	Queen's University, Belfast
Occupation	Journalist
Years active	1992–present
Employer	The Seattle Times
Known for	2020 Pulitzer Prize in National Reporting co-recipient
Spouse	Nina Shapiro
Children	2

Dominic Gates is an Irish-American aerospace journalist for The Seattle Times, former math teacher, and Pulitzer Prize winner.^[1] He has been assigned to cover Boeing for The Times since 2003. Gates was a co-recipient of the 2020 Pulitzer Prize in National Reporting alongside Steve Miletich, Mike Baker, and Lewis Kamb for their coverage of the Boeing 737 MAX crashes and investigations.

Early life

Gates was born in Dungannon, Northern Ireland, as one of six children.^[1] He was educated at St Patrick's Academy in Dungannon and graduated with a mathematics degree from Queen's University, Belfast.^[2] Gates taught high school mathematics in Northern Ireland and Zimbabwe before relocating to the United States.^[3][4]

Journalism career

While having no formal training in journalism, Gates contributed several articles to the magazine Fortnight on an unpaid basis.^[4] After moving to Seattle with his wife in 1992, he took on several freelancing assignments for various magazines and news organizations while continuing to teach mathematics.^[5] Gates was hired by technology magazine The Industry Standard in 2000, but the magazine went out of business 18 months later.^[3][4]

Gates then joined The Seattle Times in 2003 as an aerospace reporter, covering the local Boeing beat. He covered the development and launch of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner project and later the Boeing 737 MAX program, including two fatal crashes and the subsequent grounding of the aircraft.^[3] He won critical acclaim for his investigation into the 737 MAX and its automated flight control system, which had been written prior to the second crash.^[1] Gates and Times colleagues Steve Miletich, Mike Baker, and Lewis Kamb were awarded the 2019 George Polk Award in Business Reporting, the 2020 Pulitzer Prize in National Reporting, and the 2020 Gerald Loeb Award for Beat Reporting for their coverage of the Boeing 737 MAX program.^[4][6][7][8]

Personal life

Gates is married to Nina Shapiro, a fellow journalist at The Seattle Times whom he met while teaching in Zimbabwe.^[3] They have two adult daughters.^[1]

Selected bibliography

• "Boeing's 737 MAX Crisis", The Seattle Times^[9] – award-winning series^[4][6][7][8]

1. "Flawed analysis, failed oversight: How Boeing, FAA certified the suspect 737 MAX flight control system", March 21, 2019^[10]
2. "Engineers say Boeing pushed to limit safety testing in race to certify planes, including 737 MAX", May 5, 2019^[11]
3. "The inside story of MCAS: How Boeing's 737 MAX system gained power and lost safeguards", June 24, 2019^[12]
4. "Boeing rejected 737 MAX safety upgrades before fatal crashes, whistleblower says", October 3, 2019^[13]
5. "Boeing pushed FAA to relax 737 MAX certification requirements for crew alerts", October 3, 2019^[14]

References

1. "Pulitzer prize for Dungannon-born journalist". Ulster Herald. May 17, 2020. Archived from the original on November 30, 2020. Retrieved October 1, 2020.
2. Moriarty, Gerry (May 6, 2020). "Tyrone journalist wins Pulitzer for Boeing Max crashes coverage". Irish Times. Retrieved October 1, 2020.
3. Blatchford, Taylor (June 13, 2019). "Behind the Byline: Meet aerospace reporter Dominic Gates". The Seattle Times. Retrieved October 1, 2020.
4. Canning, Margaret (May 7, 2020). "Ex-teacher from Co Tyrone Dominic Gates wins Pulitzer Prize". Belfast Telegraph. Retrieved October 1, 2020.
5. Fancher, Michael R. (June 17, 2007). "An unusual journey to the Boeing beat". The Seattle Times. Retrieved October 1, 2020.
6. "The 2020 Pulitzer Prize Winner in National Reporting: Dominic Gates, Steve Miletich, Mike Baker and Lewis Kamb of The Seattle Times". The Pulitzer Prizes. Retrieved October 1, 2020.
7. Harris, Roy J. Jr. (April 3, 2020). "Pulitzer preview: While journalists pursue today's story of a lifetime, a moment to recognize 2019's best work". Poynter Institute. Retrieved October 1, 2020.
8. Trounson, Rebecca (November 13, 2020). "Anderson School of Management announces 2020 Loeb Award winners in business journalism" (Press release). UCLA Anderson School of Management. Retrieved November 13, 2020.
9. "Boeing's 737 MAX Crisis". The Seattle Times. December 15, 2019. Retrieved November 14, 2020.
10. Gates, Dominic (March 17, 2019). "Flawed analysis, failed oversight: How Boeing, FAA certified the suspect 737 MAX flight control system". The Seattle Times. Retrieved November 14, 2020.
11. Gates, Dominic; Baker, Mike (May 5, 2019). "Engineers say Boeing pushed to limit safety testing in race to certify planes, including 737 MAX". The Seattle Times. Retrieved November 14, 2020.
12. Gates, Dominic; Baker, Mike (June 22, 2019). "The inside story of MCAS: How Boeing's 737 MAX system gained power and lost safeguards". The Seattle Times. Retrieved November 14, 2020.
13. Gates, Dominic; Miletich, Steve; Kamb, Lewis (October 2, 2019). "Boeing rejected 737 MAX safety upgrades before fatal crashes, whistleblower says". The Seattle Times. Retrieved November 14, 2020.
14. Gates, Dominic; Miletich, Steve; Kamb, Lewis (October 2, 2019). "Boeing pushed FAA to relax 737 MAX certification requirements for crew alerts". The Seattle Times. Retrieved November 14, 2020.