Jack McDevitt (born 1935) is an American science fiction author whose novels frequently deal with attempts to make contact with alien races, and with archaeology or xenoarchaeology.
He attended La Salle University, where a short story of his won the annual Freshman Short Story Contest and was published in the school's literary magazine, Four Quarters. He received a Master's degree in literature from Wesleyan University in 1971. Before becoming a full-time author, he was an English teacher, naval officer, Philadelphia taxi driver, customs officer and motivational trainer.
His first published story was The Emerson Effect in The Twilight Zone Magazine in 1981. Two years later, he published his first novel, The Hercules Text, which won the Philip K. Dick Special Award. He won the 2006 Nebula Award for Best Novel for Seeker, the UPC International Prize for his novella Ships in the Night in 1991, and the John W. Campbell Memorial Award for best SF novel for Omega in 2003.
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