New York Times cultural reporter Mel Gussow has won the 2002 Margo Jones Medal, given out by O'Neill Theater Center in Waterford, CT. The prize will be bestowed upon the writer on July 13. The Margo Jones Medal honors individuals and institutions which have demonstrated a commitment to new works for the American theatre. Past winners include Jane Alexander, Al Hirschfeld, Robert Whitehead and Signature Theatre Company founder and artistic director James Houghton, who is now on the O'Neill staff.

Gussow was for many years the second-string theatre critic for the Times. More recently, he has penned articles, features and profiles for the broadsheet. Also an author, his books include "Edward Albee: A Singular Journey" and , as part of the ""Conversations with" series, books about Harold Pinter, Tom Stoppard, Samuel Beckett and Arthur Miller. He has won the George Jean Nathan Award for Dramatic Criticism.

—By Robert Simonson