Amelia Lester named New Yorker managing editor

Amelia Lester ’05 is a former Ledecky Undergraduate Fellow at Harvard Magazine.

Amelia Lester ’05 has been named managing editor of the New Yorker, the New York Observer reported yesterday.

As a Berta Greenwald Ledecky Undergraduate Fellow at Harvard Magazine, Lester, a native of Sydney, Australia, wrote her first column for the magazine about adjusting to life in America. Subsequent columns explored the senior-year job search and the bittersweet transition into life after college.

Lester most recently worked as an editor at the Paris Review, according to the Observer; she had previously worked as a fact checker at the New Yorker. (See this biography from when she was named a Ledecky Fellow.)

You might also like

Open Book: A New Nuclear Age

Harvard historian Serhii Plokhy’s latest book looks at the rising danger of a new arms race.

Novelist Lev Grossman on Why Fantasy Isn’t About Escapism

The Magicians author discusses his influences, from Harvard to King Arthur to Tolkien.

For Campus Speech, Civility is a Cultural Practice

A former Harvard College dean reviews Princeton President Christopher Eisgruber’s book Terms of Respect.

Most popular

The Harvard Professor Who Quantified Democracy

Erica Chenoweth’s data shows how—and when—authoritarians fall.

Why Men Are Falling Behind in Education, Employment, and Health

Can new approaches to education address a growing gender gap?

Mark Carney on the Limits of Soft Power

At the 2026 Davos summit, the Canadian prime minister echoes Harvard’s Joseph Nye.

Explore More From Current Issue

Lawrence H. Summers, looking serious while speaking at a podium with a microphone.

Harvard in the News

Grade inflation, Epstein files fallout, University database breach 

A jubilant graduate shouts into a megaphone, surrounded by a cheering crowd.

For Campus Speech, Civility is a Cultural Practice

A former Harvard College dean reviews Princeton President Christopher Eisgruber’s book Terms of Respect.

A bald man in a black shirt with two book covers beside him, one titled "The Magicians" and the other "The Bright Sword."

Novelist Lev Grossman on Why Fantasy Isn’t About Escapism

The Magicians author discusses his influences, from Harvard to King Arthur to Tolkien.