James Thurber
James A. Thurber is University Distinguished Professor of Government and Founder (1979) and Director of the Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies (american.edu/ccps). Under his direction, CCPS organizes biannually the Campaign Management Institute and the Public Affairs and Advocacy Institute over the last two decades. He was the principal investigator of a seven year grant from The Pew Charitable Trusts to study campaign conduct. He is the principal investigator of a four year study of lobbying and ethics for the Committee for Economic Development.
Dr. Thurber has been on the faculty at American University since 1974 and was honored as the University Scholar/Teacher of the Year in 1996. He is a Fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration. He is author of numerous books and more than eighty articles and chapters on Congress, congressional-presidential relations, congressional budgeting, congressional reform, interest groups and lobbying, congressional ethics, and campaigns and elections. He is an author or editor of Rivals for Power: Presidential-Congressional Relations (2006, 3rd Ed.), Campaigns and Elections, American Style (with Candice Nelson, 2004, 2nd Ed.) Congress and the Internet (with Colton Campbell, 2002), The Battle for Congress: Consultants, Candidates, and Voters (2001), Crowded Airwaves: Campaign Advertising in Elections (with Candice J. Nelson and David A. Dulio, 2000), Campaign Warriors: Political Consultants in Elections (2000), Remaking Congress: The Politics of Congressional Stability and Change (with Roger Davidson, 1995), Divided Democracy: Cooperation and Conflict Between Presidents and Congress (1991), and Setting Course: A Congressional Management Guide (with Chaleff, Loomis and Serota, first three editions starting in 1988). He co-produced three BBC-TV documentaries on the U.S. Congress and elections.
Dr. Thurber earned a BS in political science from the University of Oregon and a Ph.D. in political science from Indiana University and was an American Political Science Association Congressional Fellow. He has lectured at over 60 universities throughout the world including, Oxford University, Harvard University, Essex University, University of California at Berkeley, and was a visiting professor at the London School of Economics. He has worked on four reorganization efforts for committees in the U.S. House and U.S. Senate from 1976 to present. He served as legislative assistant to U.S. Senator Hubert H. Humphrey, U.S. Senator William Brock, U.S. Senator Adlai Stevenson III, and Representative David Obey. He was Director of the Washington DC based Human Affairs Research Centers of the Battelle Memorial Institute and served as acting Dean of the School of Government and Public Administration at American University. He is frequently interviewed by the Today Show, Good Morning America, CNN-TV, CBS-TV, ABC-TV, NBC-TV, BBC-TV and radio, National Public Radio and major print publications.
