James A. Thurber

Who is James A. Thurber?

James A. Thurber is University Distinguished Professor of Government, Founder, and Director of the Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies at American University in Washington, D.C.. Under his direction, CCPS organizes the Campaign Management Institute, the Public Affairs and Advocacy Institute, and the European Public Affairs and Advocacy Institute. He is editor of the journal Congress and the Presidency. He was the principal investigator of a seven-year grant from The Pew Charitable Trusts to the Campaign Management Institute to study campaign conduct and a four-year study of lobbying and ethics from 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 was legislative assistant to U.S. Senators Hubert H. Humphrey, William Brock, Adlai Stevenson III, and U.S. Representative David Obey. He worked with Senator Barack Obama on ethics and lobbying reforms. His latest publications are Rivals for Power: Presidential-Congressional Relations, Campaigns and Elections, American Style with Candice Nelson. He is the author and editor of numerous books and more than eighty articles on American politics including Obama in Office, Congress and the Internet with Colton Campbell, The Battle for Congress: Consultants, Candidates, and Voters, Crowded Airwaves: Campaign Advertising in Elections with Candice J. Nelson and David A. Dulio and Campaign Warriors: Political Consultants in Elections. Dr. Thurber earned a PhD in political science from Indiana University and was an American Political Science Association Congressional Fellow and is a Fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration. He received the 2010 APSA Walter Beach Pi Sigma Alpha award for his work combining applied and academic research.