As Director of Special Projects, Alexis Gelber develops new special issues, features and entrepreneurial projects for Newsweek. She spearheads the "Health for Life" and the "Living Longer, Living Better" health issues and the "Leadership in the 21st Century" series of articles and accompanying conferences. In 2004, Gelber supervised the Special Election issue, which won a National Magazine Award from the American Society of Magazine Editors for single-topic issue in 2005. This is the behind-the-scenes account of the presidential election which hits newsstands two days after election day and was published as a book by Public Affairs in January 2005.

In 2006, Gelber supervised the "AIDS at 25" issue, which was nominated for a National Magazine Award, single-topic issue. And Gelber created the "Boomers Files" series on the baby boom generation that is now facing retirement. The series looks back on how that generation impacted everything from politics, religion and humor to parenting. Each series has an online quiz to test your boomer knowledge, and that interactive feature was also nominated for a 2006 National Magazine Award.

She introduced the "Health for Life" series of special issues on nutrition, fitness and health help v. health hype in 2002. The "Health for Life" premiere issue-a special report on the science of alternative medicine drawing on Newsweek's health journalists and experts from Harvard Medical School-was named a National Magazine Award finalist in the personal service category. In 2005, the series examined the future of medicine in the special, stand-alone issue "Your Health in the 21st Century."

Gelber also oversees Newsweek's "Leadership in the 21st Century" series, and in 2005, spearheaded the "Women and Leadership" special report which included an interview with Oprah Winfrey and a day-long conference about women professionals. Oprah graced the cover of the magazine that week and she devoted a show to the topic. The coverage was also featured on NBC's "Today" and "Nightly News." She also created and edits the magazine's year-end double issue, "Who's Next," which looks ahead to the people and ideas that will shape the coming year.

In fall of 2000, Gelber created and edited "Your Child: Birth to Three." Topics in the issue were discussed in a five-day series on NBC's "TODAY" show and Newsweek sponsored a one-day conference in Washington to explore the topics in greater depth. Gelber edited the 1997 edition of "Your Child," which became the most widely distributed issue in Newsweek's history and was featured at a White House conference on early childhood. It was also translated into Japanese, Korean, Russian and Chinese and became the first American news magazine to be published in a Chinese-language edition in mainland China. Previously, Gelber was managing editor of Newsweek International and assistant managing editor of Newsweek. She was named assistant managing editor of the U.S. edition of Newsweek in July 1992. In 1991, she also co-edited Newsweek's coverage of the Persian Gulf War, which earned an Overseas Press Club Award for Best Magazine Reporting from Abroad. She also supervised the election issue coverage in 1992 as senior editor of the National Affairs section and that issue won not only the ASME award for single-topic issue, but Newsweek also won for General Excellence that year.

Prior to being named senior editor of National Affairs, Gelber had served as deputy editor of National Affairs from January 1988 to March 1989, and executive editor of Newsweek International from May 1987. She joined Newsweek as an associate editor in August 1980 after serving as editor of Art Direction magazine for three years.

Gelber was President of the Overseas Press Club from 2002 - 2004. A native of New York City, Gelber graduated from Barnard College in 1974. She received a master's degree from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in 1980. She is married to Mark Whitaker, vice president and editor-in-chief of new ventures at Washington Post.