Gail Collins was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1945. She received a B.A. in journalism from Marquette University and an M.A. in government from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. She writes an op-ed column for The New York Times every Thursday and Saturday. She was also the first woman to hold the position of Editorial Page Editor at the Times, which she held from 2001 to 2007. She has also written several books including America's Women: Four Hundred Years of Dolls, Drudges, Helpmates, and Heroines and When Everything Changed: The Amazing Journey of American Women from 1960 to the Present.