Alan Mortimer Kriegsman is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 dance critic who won the 1976 Pulitzer Prize

1976 Pulitzer Prize

-Journalism awards:*Public Service:** The Anchorage Daily News, for its disclosures of the impact and influence of the Teamsters Union on Alaska's economy and politics.*Local General or Spot News Reporting:...

 for his work at The Washington Post

The Washington Post

The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...

, the first to win the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism

Pulitzer Prize for Criticism

The Pulitzer Prize for Criticism has been presented since 1970 to a newspaper writer who has demonstrated 'distinguished criticism'. Recipients of the award are chosen by an independent board and officially administered by Columbia University...

 for reporting as a dance critic.

Kriegsman was born on February 28, 1928 in Brooklyn

Brooklyn

Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...

, and grew up in Far Rockaway, Queens

Far Rockaway, Queens

Far Rockaway is a neighborhood on the Rockaway Peninsula in the New York City borough of Queens in the United States. It is the easternmost section of the Rockaways. The neighborhood starts at the Nassau County line and extends west to Beach 32nd Street. The neighborhood is part of Queens Community...

. He attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...

 and earned a BS degree from Columbia University

Columbia University

Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...

, in addition to work towards a Ph.D. in musicology

Musicology

Musicology is the scholarly study of music. The word is used in narrow, broad and intermediate senses. In the narrow sense, musicology is confined to the music history of Western culture...

. He served in the United States Army

United States Army

The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...

 from 1949 to 1950. He attended the University of Vienna

University of Vienna

The University of Vienna is a public university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world...

 in 1956 and 1957 on a Fulbright scholar

Fulbright Program

The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright-Hays Program, is a program of competitive, merit-based grants for international educational exchange for students, scholars, teachers, professionals, scientists and artists, founded by United States Senator J. William Fulbright in 1946. Under the...

. He married the former Sali Ann Ribakove in 1957.

He served on the faculty of Barnard College

Barnard College

Barnard College is a private women's liberal arts college and a member of the Seven Sisters. Founded in 1889, Barnard has been affiliated with Columbia University since 1900. The campus stretches along Broadway between 116th and 120th Streets in the Morningside Heights neighborhood in the borough...

, Columbia University, George Washington University

George Washington University

The George Washington University is a private, coeducational comprehensive university located in Washington, D.C. in the United States...

, Hunter College

Hunter College

Hunter College, established in 1870, is a public university and one of the constituent colleges of the City University of New York, located on Manhattan's Upper East Side. Hunter grants undergraduate, graduate, and post-graduate degrees in more than one hundred fields of study, and is recognized...

, the Juilliard School

Juilliard School

The Juilliard School, located at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City, United States, is a performing arts conservatory which was established in 1905...

, Temple University

Temple University

Temple University is a comprehensive public research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Originally founded in 1884 by Dr. Russell Conwell, Temple University is among the nation's largest providers of professional education and prepares the largest body of professional...

 and the University of California, San Diego

University of California, San Diego

The University of California, San Diego, commonly known as UCSD or UC San Diego, is a public research university located in the La Jolla neighborhood of San Diego, California, United States...

. From 1960 to 1965, he was a music and drama critic for the San Diego Union. He returned to New York City where he was assistant to the president of the Juilliard School in 1965 and 1966. He became a music and performing arts critic and columnist for The Washington Post starting in 1966 and was its dance critic from 1974 to his retirement in 1996.

While with The Washington Post

The Washington Post

The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...

, Kriegsman won the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism in 1976, the first to receive the award for work in the dance field. After he retired in 1996, he was succeeded by Sarah Kaufman

Sarah Kaufman (critic)

Sarah Kaufman is the dance critic for the Washington Post. She was the recipient of the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Kaufman was born in Austin, Texas and was raised in Washington DC. She earned a BA in English from the University of Maryland, where she studied under poet laureate Reed...

 as dance critic, who would go on to win the 2010 Pulitzer Prize

2010 Pulitzer Prize

The 2010 Pulitzer Prizes were awarded on Monday, April 12, 2010. In journalism, The Washington Post won four awards while The New York Times won three. For the first time, an online source, ProPublica, won in what had previously been the sole province of print. A musical, Next to Normal, won the...

for her dance criticism. Kaufman, in a question and answer session in The Washington Post credited Kriegsman as her "hero, friend and mentor"