IBOPE.US is an international market research firm, created from the purchase of the public opinion polling firm founded in 1984 by John Zogby. The company polls and consults for a wide spectrum of business media, government, and political groups, and did conduct public opinion research in more than 70 countries.^[1] IBOPE,US is headquartered in Miami, Florida, with an office in Utica, New York.

Company history[link]

John Zogby founded the polling firm Zogby International in 1984. Since then, he has conducted polls and focus groups around the world. Zogby is currently a Senior Analyst for JZ Analytics.^[2]

One key reason for the Zogby's enormous success stems from his decision to maintain an in-house call center using live operators in Upstate New York. But, with the dramatic changes in the telephone industry in recent years, Zogby in 1998 began developing an interactive online polling methodology using a massive database of respondents that Zogby claims to represent the national population at large.^[3]

Company Timeline[link]

John Zogby first gained attention in the 1992 presidential election when he released a survey showing the New York State Governor Mario Cuomo would lose in his home state to incumbent President George H. W. Bush. That poll is widely thought to have pushed Cuomo from the race. Later, he gained more national attention in the 1996 Presidential election when his final poll came within a tenth of a point of the actual result. Zogby also correctly polled the cliffhanger result of the 2000 presidential election won narrowly by George W. Bush, in contrast to most other pollsters who had expected Bush to win easily.

In 2004, while Zogby's actual polling was correct, his Election Day prediction failed to materialize. Before polls closed in the 2004 presidential election, Zogby predicted a comfortable win for John Kerry (311 electoral votes, versus 213 for Bush, with 14 too close to call), saying, "Bush had this election lost a long time ago," adding that voters wanted a change and would vote for "any candidate who was not Bush." While admitting that he was mistaken, Zogby did not admit any possible flaws in his polling methods, insisting that his predictions were all within the margin of error. While on The Daily Show With Jon Stewart, he said he felt that Kerry would win due to the undecided voters. Despite his personal prediction, Zogby's final poll showed Bush with a one point lead over Kerry.^[4] Zogby later released a "Mea culpa" in which he stated "I will do better next time: I will just poll, not predict."^[5]

In 2006, Zogby phone polling correctly called all 10 competitive United States Senate races and nailed the exact margin in the three closest races. His interactive online polling correctly called the winner of 17 of 18 races, but wrongly calculated the margin of their victory (which can be the most important aspect in measuring a pollsters accuracy) by an average of 8.6%, twice the average of Rasmussen, SurveyUSA, and Mason-Dixon.^[6]

Prior to the January, 2008 New Hampshire Democratic primary, Zogby, like virtually all other pollsters, showed in his polling a large (13 points, in Zogby's case) lead for Barack Obama over Hillary Clinton, adding, "Obama is still on a roll and not slowing down. He had another big day." Clinton went on to win by three percentage points. Zogby's polling results in the Iowa Caucuses, and the South Carolina, and Florida primaries, however, were far closer, and he was one of only a few pollsters to correctly call Obama's Iowa win. However, his final poll in California showed Obama winning by 13%, but the actual results showed Hillary winning by 10%, a 23-point difference far beyond the margin of error.

The company also had success with elections in countries outside the United States.^{[citation needed]} Zogby correctly called the 2001 Israeli election for Ariel Sharon, the 2000 Mexican election for Vicente Fox and again in Mexico with the victory of Felipe Calderón in 2006.^{[citation needed]} Zogby made a sideline of polling Arab attitudes toward the United States, particularly in regard to Lebanon.^{[citation needed]}

Acquisition[link]

A total interest in Zogby International was acquired by IBOPE Inteligência, a subsidiary of the IBOPE Group, a Brazilian multinational company specializing in media, market and opinion research in early 2012 cutting out John Zogby from the company he founded.

Criticism[link]

Nate Silver statistician of FiveThirtyEight.com called Zogby International's online polling division, Zogby Interactive, "The worst pollster in the world." ranking it last in his Pollster Rankings. He also ranked Zogby's Telephone polls 53rd of 64.^[7] He notes the pollster relies on one day polling which causes large fluctuations in data. Silver uses their misleading questions, seemingly to create a bias, as evidence for their status.^[8]

When conducting daily tracking polls, Zogby International only releases results for the 3 day average, as explained in a methodology statement on a 2008 Reuters/C-Span/Zogby poll which states that the 2008 election “daily tracking telephone poll will continue each day until the Nov. 4 election. With each new day of responses that are folded into the poll, the oldest third of the survey is removed, so the poll "tracks" changes in voter attitudes following events and developments in the race.”

In a review of the performance of polling firms during the 2008 elections, the Wall Street Journal noted that "Zogby International polled in eight states in the last week, including six of the closest races, and missed the final margin by an average of less than two points -- as accurate as the poll aggregators such as Pollster.com."^[9]

See also[link]

• John Zogby

References[link]

Notes

External links[link]

• IBOPE.US official website

Manute Bol ( /məˈnuːt ˈboʊl/; October 16, 1962 – June 19, 2010^[1]) was a Sudanese-born basketball player and activist. At 7 ft 7 in (2.31 m) tall, Bol was one of the tallest players ever to appear in the National Basketball Association, along with Gheorghe Mureşan.^[2] Unlike Mureşan, however, Bol was naturally tall and did not have a Pituitary disease.^{[citation needed]} Bol was officially measured at 7 feet, 6 3/4 inches tall by the Guinness Book of World Records. Bol is believed to have been born on October 16, 1962 in either Turalei or Gogrial, Sudan (now South Sudan). He was the son of a Dinka tribal chief, who gave him the name "Manute", which means "special blessing."

Bol played basketball for many teams over his career. He played for two colleges and four NBA teams. He was known as a specialist player; his shot blocking ability was considered among the best in the history of the sport, but other aspects of his game were considered fairly weak. In his career, he had more blocked shots than points scored.

Family background[link]

Bol came from a family of extraordinarily tall men and women: "My mother was 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m), my father 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) and my sister is 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)", he said. "And my great-grandfather was even taller — 7 ft 10 in (2.39 m)."^[3]

As a boy, Bol had tended his family's cattle. According to a tale he was often asked to repeat in interviews, he once killed a lion with a spear while he was working as a cowherd.

Bol is survived by 10 children, including four with his second wife, Ajok.^[4]

Basketball career[link]

Amateur years[link]

Bol started playing basketball in 1978 and played in Sudan for several years with teams in Wau and Khartoum. A coach from Fairleigh Dickinson University saw Bol play basketball in Khartoum and convinced him to come to the United States.^[5] Bol was drafted by the San Diego Clippers in the 5th round of the 1983 NBA Draft, but the league ruled that Bol had not been eligible for the draft and declared the pick invalid.^[6] He was then invited to Cleveland by Cleveland State University head basketball coach Kevin Mackey. However, he didn't speak or write English very well at the time. He was unable to improve his English-language skills after months of English language classes at ELS Language Centers on the Case Western Reserve University campus, and never played a game for Cleveland State. Five years later, Cleveland State was placed on two years' probation for providing improper financial assistance to Bol and two other African players.^[7] He enrolled at the University of Bridgeport, a Division II basketball school, and played college basketball there during the 1984-1985 season.

NBA[link]

In 1985 Bol was drafted in the second round by the Washington Bullets. He played in the NBA for ten years, from 1985–1995, spending parts of four seasons with the Bullets, parts of three with the Golden State Warriors, parts of four with the Philadelphia 76ers and part of one season with the Miami Heat. In 1987, the Washington Bullets drafted the 5 ft 3 in (1.60 m) point guard Muggsy Bogues, pairing the tallest and shortest players in the league on the court for one season.

Washington Bullets[link]

Bol's first tenure with the Bullets lasted for three seasons from 1985 to 1988. In his rookie season (1985-1986) Bol appeared in 80 games and recorded a career-high 5.0 blocks per game. His total of 397 blocks set the NBA rookie record, and remains the second-highest single-season total in league history behind Mark Eaton's 456 rejections in 1984-85.

Golden State Warriors[link]

Bol's first tenure with the Golden State Warriors lasted for two seasons from 1988 to 1990. It was his first season in Golden State that Bol first attempted to shoot three pointers with regularity. In that season, he shot a career-high 91 three pointers and made 20 of them. At this time he may have helped to popularize the expression "my bad", although a 2005 suggestion that he coined the phrase has been discounted.^[8][9]

Philadelphia 76ers[link]

Bol's first tenure with the Philadelphia 76ers lasted for three seasons from 1990 to 1993. Although he played in a career-high 82 games in his first season in with the 76ers, it was also in Philadelphia that Bol's production as a player began to decline (in terms of both games played and per game statistics). After playing in all 82 games in 1990-1991, he played in 71 games the next season, and in 58 (a career low at the time) games the following season. During Bol's last season in Philadelphia, Bol enjoyed a memorable night while playing against former teammate Charles Barkley and the Phoenix Suns. Bol hit 6 of 12 three-pointers all in the second half in a losing effort against the Suns.^[10] Fans were known to yell out "shoot" as soon as Bol touched the ball when he was far from the basket.^[11]

Miami Heat[link]

Bol played in eight games in the 1993-1994 season with the Miami Heat. The Heat were the only team for whom Bol played that did not feature him in its starting lineup. He scored only a two-point field goal with the team and blocked 6 shots in 61 total minutes.

Washington Bullets (2nd stint)[link]

Bol's second stint with the Bullets lasted only two games during the 1993-1994 season. Thereafter he was signed not to play in games, but instead to help with the development of 7 ft 7 teammate Gheorghe Mureşan.

Philadelphia 76ers (2nd stint)[link]

Bol's second stint with the 76ers lasted for four games near the end of the 1993-1994 season. There, he helped to mentor 7 ft 6 in teammate Shawn Bradley. In only 49 minutes, he played more aggressively than he did earlier in the season with Miami and Washington. He scored 6 points, grabbed 6 rebounds, and blocked 9 shots.

Golden State Warriors (2nd stint)[link]

Bol's final NBA stop was with the 1994-1995 Warriors. Bol, who wore a No 1 Jersey, (he had worn No 10 with the Bullets and earlier stint with the Warriors and No 11 with the Sixers) made the season opening roster and played in what would be his five final NBA games. (It is known that Bol chose the # 1 jersey to establish himself as the most dominant rebounder and shot-blocker in the NBA).^{[citation needed]} On a memorable night in the middle of November, Bol finally made his home debut, coming off of the bench to play 29 minutes against the Minnesota Timberwolves. He intimidated and blocked his usual shots and grabbed his usual rebounds. That night, however, served as a "blast from the past" as Bol was back to shooting three-pointers like he did in the late 1980s. In that game, Bol connected on all three of the three pointers that he took (each was shot several steps beyond the three point line). The crowd, in disbelief, cheered louder and louder with each shot he took. Seven nights later in Charlotte, on a game that was nationally televised by TNT, Bol was in the starting line-up again. By this time, two weeks into the season, Bol's career seemed to be rejuvenated under head coach Don Nelson in Golden State—he was again a defensive force, making threes, and contributing as a starter to create match-up problems. However, after playing in only ten minutes against the Hornets on November 22, 1994, Bol suffered what proved to be a career-ending injury, and never played in the NBA again. Before he left his final game, he recorded a block and two points, and also managed to unload a three point attempt in the limited minutes.

Shot blocking[link]

With his great height and very long limbs, Bol was one of the league's most imposing defensive presences, blocking shots at an unprecedented rate.^[12] Along with setting the rookie shot blocking record in 1985-86, over the course of his career Bol tied for the NBA record for the most blocked shots in one half (eleven) and in one quarter (eight, twice).^[13] On 01992-01-31January 31, 1992, in a game against the Orlando Magic, he blocked four consecutive shots within a single possession.^[14]

However, Bol's other basketball skills were very limited, and his rail-thin physique made it difficult for him to establish position against the league's bulkier centers and power forwards. The sight of the tall, gangly Bol spotting up for a three-pointer during blow-outs became a fan favorite. Off the court, he established a reputation as a practical joker; Charles Barkley, a frequent victim of his pranks, attested to Bol's sense of humor.^{[citation needed]} Bol also developed a close friendship with teammate Chris Mullin.

Career accomplishments[link]

Over the course of his career, Bol averaged 2.6 points, 4.2 rebounds, 0.3 assists and 3.3 blocks per game while only playing an average of 18.7 minutes per game. Bol finished his career with totals of 1,599 points, 2,647 rebounds, and 2,086 blocks, having appeared in 624 games over 10 seasons.^[15] As of 2010, Manute Bol remains:

• First in career blocks per 48 minutes (8.6), almost 50% beyond second-place Mark Eaton (5.8).^[16]
• Second in career blocks-per-game average (3.34).^[17]
• Fourteenth in total blocked shots (2,086).^[18]
• The only player in NBA history to block more shots than points scored, blocking 2,086 shots and scoring 1,599 points.^[18]

Post-NBA[link]

After the end of his NBA career, Bol played 22 games for the Florida Beach Dogs of the Continental Basketball Association during the 1995-1996 season. In 1996, the Portland (Maine) Mountain Cats of the United States Basketball League announced that he would be playing with the team, and included him in the game program, but he never actually appeared in uniform. He then played professionally in Italy and Qatar before rheumatism forced him to retire permanently.

Activism[link]

Bol was very active in charitable causes throughout his career. In fact, he said he spent much of the money he made during a 10-year NBA career supporting various causes related to the war-ravaged nation of his birth, Sudan.^[19] He frequently visited Sudanese refugee camps, where he was treated like royalty. In 2001 Bol was offered a post as minister of sport by the Sudanese government. Bol, who was a Christian,^[20] refused because one of the pre-conditions was converting to Islam.^[21] Later Bol was hindered from leaving the country by the Sudanese government, who accused him of supporting the Dinka-led Christian rebels, the Sudan People's Liberation Army. The Sudanese government refused to grant him an exit visa unless he came back with more money. Assistance by supporters in the United States, including Connecticut Senator Joseph Lieberman, raised money to provide Bol with plane tickets to Cairo, Egypt. After 6 months of negotiations with U.S. consulate officials regarding refugee status, Bol and his family were finally able to leave Egypt and return to the United States.^[21]

Bol established the Ring True Foundation in order to continue fund-raising for Sudanese refugees. He gave most of his earnings (an estimated $3.5 million) to their cause. In 2002, Fox TV agreed to broadcast the telephone number of his Ring True Foundation in exchange for Bol's agreement to appear on their Celebrity Boxing show. After the referee goaded, "If you guys don't box, you won't get paid", he scored a third-round victory over former football player William "The Refrigerator" Perry.

In the fall of 2002, Bol signed a one-day contract with the Indianapolis Ice of the Central Hockey League. Even though he could not skate, the publicity generated by his single game appearance helped raise money to assist children in Sudan.^[22] Bol once suited up as a horse jockey for similar reasons.

Bol was involved in the April 2006 Sudan Freedom Walk, a three-week march from the United Nations building in New York to the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C.. The event was organized by Simon Deng, a former Sudanese swimming champion (currently a lifeguard at Coney Island) who was a longtime friend of Bol. Deng, who was a slave for three years from the age of nine, is from another tribe in Southern Sudan. His Sudan Freedom Walk is especially aimed at finding a solution to the genocide in Darfur (western Sudan), but it also seeks to raise awareness of the modern day slavery and human rights abuses throughout Sudan. Bol spoke in New York at the start of the Walk, and in Philadelphia at a rally organized by former hunger striker Nathan Kleinman.

Bol was also an advocate for reconciliation efforts and worked to improve education in South Sudan. A Nicholas Kristoff article^[23] in the New York Times highlighted this belief and Bol’s work for reconciliation and education with an organization called Sudan Sunrise. Bol first began working with Sudan Sunrise to raise awareness on issues of reconciliation in 2005. This included speaking at the United States Capitol in Washington, DC and subsequently partnering with Sudan Sunrise to build schools across South Sudan that, in the spirit of reconciliation, would enroll students regardless of tribe or religion.^[24]

During his time in Egypt, Bol ran a basketball school in Cairo. One of his pupils was a fellow Sudanese refugee; Chicago Bulls player Luol Deng, the son of a former Sudanese cabinet minister. Deng later moved to the United States to further his basketball career, continuing a close relationship with Bol.

Life after basketball[link]

After a political dispute in Sudan, in 2002 Bol was admitted to the United States as a religious refugee, and resided in West Hartford, Connecticut.^[25] In July 2004, Bol was seriously injured in a car accident, breaking his neck, when he was ejected from a taxi that hit a guardrail and overturned. The driver had a suspended license and was driving under the influence.^[26] Because his fortunes were mostly donated to Sudan, he was in financial ruins because he had no life insurance or health insurance.^[27] When Bol recovered from these injuries he moved to Olathe, Kansas.^[25]

Bol was also the "Brand Ambassador" for Ethiopian Airlines and Ethiopian Airlines Journeys.

Death[link]

On June 19, 2010, Bol died from acute kidney failure and complications from Stevens–Johnson syndrome at the University of Virginia Medical Center in Charlottesville, Virginia.^{[25] [28]}

After his death, tributes to Bol's basketball career and charitable works came from around the United States and the world.^{[29][30][31][32][33][34]}

His former teams, and the NBA, issued statements in recognition of his impact on the sport of basketball and on his native Sudan.^[35][36][37]

A salute to Bol took place on the floor of the United States Senate just a few days after his death.^[38]

Funeral service and tribute[link]

Bol's memorial service at the National Cathedral

The memorial service for Manute Bol was held on Tuesday, June 29, 2010, at 10:00 a.m. at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. Bol's body lay in an eight-foot-long, specially built casket.^[39]

Bol was given tributes by United States Senator Sam Brownback from Kansas, Former National Security Advisor Robert McFarlane, Sudan's Ambassador to the United States, Dr. Akec Khoc Acieu, Bol's Uncle, Mr. Bol Bol Choi, and Vice President of the National Basketball Association Rory Sparrow.^[39]

Sparrow remembered Bol as "a giant off the court" who should be remembered for humanitarian work and his basketball career.^[39]

Senator Brownback recalled that "He literally gave his life for his people. He went over (to Sudan), he was sick. He stayed longer than he should have. He probably contracted this ailment that took his life while in Sudan, and he didn’t have to do that. He was an NBA basketball player. He could have stayed here and had an easy life. I’ve never seen anybody use his celebrity status more nor give his life more completely to a group of people than Manute Bol did. It makes me look at efforts that I do as not enough."

Dr. Akec K.A. Khoc, Ambassador of Sudan to the U.S said that "Manute had a very great heart for his country and people. He did everything to support anybody in need of shoes, blankets, health service, food, and people who were struggling. He went to see them and to encourage them to continue their struggle for their rights, for their freedoms. Manute embodied everything we can think of in Sudan. Reconciling warring groups between the north and south, in Darfur he was working for reconciliation between Darfur and the south and between Darfur and the rest of Sudan. So Manute was a voice for hope."

Sudan Sunrise founder, Tom Prichard, says Bol's work to reconcile former enemies lives on. "Manute's legacy and vision of education and reconciliation, his determination to grow grassroots reconciliation - whether that reconciliation is expressed in a country that divides or holds together, wherever the boundary lines are drawn. Manute stood for grassroots reconciliation."^[40]

Prichard went on to say "There's no question Manute gave his life for his country."^[41][42]

Manute Bol's family patriarch, Bol Bol Chol, said, "This man is not an ordinary man. I believe this man is a messenger like other messengers who were sent into this world - to do something in this world. He has accomplished most of his mission, and so God took him and left the rest of the work to be done by others."^[40]

A number of members of Bol's immediate family, including his sons, were at the service.

Manute Bol's remains were buried in Sudan.^[43]

See also[link]

Biography portal

• List of National Basketball Association career blocks leaders
• List of National Basketball Association players with most blocks in a game
• List of tallest players in National Basketball Association history

References/Notes[link]

External links[link]

• Manute Bol at NBA.com

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Manute Bol

• Career NBA stats
• Player Profile (InterBasket)
• June 2006 SI.com article
• AP Article: NBA Star Now Refugee
• "Manute Bol, N.B.A. Player and Activist, Dies at 47", New York Times, June 19, 2010
• Manute Bol at Find a Grave

James Zogby
James Zogby in Redmond, Washington 2010
Born	James Zogby (from Arabic: زغبي‎, Zuġbīy) 1945 (age 66–67) Utica, New York
Residence	Washington D.C. area
Ethnicity	Lebanese Arab
Citizenship	United States
Alma mater	Le Moyne College, B.A. Temple University, Ph.D
Known for	Founder of Arab American Institute
Political party	Democratic Party
Spouse	Eileen P. McMahon[1]
Children	5
Relatives	John Zogby, brother

James J. Zogby (born 1945) is the author of Arab Voices^[2] and the founder and president of the Arab American Institute (AAI), a Washington, D.C.–based organization which serves as a political and policy research arm of the Arab American community. He is a senior analyst with JZ Analytics, a firm created by employees of his brother's polling firm Zogby International. Zogby is a lecturer and scholar on Middle East issues and a Global Professor of Social Research and Public Policy at New York University Abu Dhabi.^[3]. He is also a member of the Executive Committee of the Democratic National Committee.

Early years and education[link]

Zogby's ancestors immigrated from Lebanon. His father entered the United States illegally in 1922,^[4] but eventually obtained citizenship through a government policy of amnesty.^[5] Zogby was born in Utica, New York.

He attended Le Moyne College in Syracuse New York where he graduated in 1967 with a bachelor's degree in economics. He went on to earn his Ph.D. in Islamic studies from Temple University in 1975. He studied at Princeton University in 1976 as a National Endowment for the Humanities post-doctoral fellow.^[1]

Career[link]

During the late 1970s, Zogby was a founding member and leader of the Palestine Human Rights Campaign. In 1980, he co-founded the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee with former U.S. Senator James Abourezk and served as executive director until 1984. In 1982, while at ADC, Zogby helped create Save Lebanon, Inc., a private non-profit, non-sectarian humanitarian relief organization to fund social welfare projects in Lebanon and health care for Palestinian and Lebanese victims of war.^[6] In March 1985, Zogby founded the Arab American Institute, of which he is still president.^[7]

In 1993, Vice President Al Gore tapped Zogby to help lead Builders for Peace following the signing of the Israeli-Palestinian peace accord in Washington. As co-president of Builders, Zogby promoted business investment by Arab-Americans in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. In 1994, Zogby led a U.S. delegation to the signing of the agreement in Cairo, Egypt, along with the Builders co-president, former U.S. Congressman Mel Levine. Zogby also chaired a forum on the Palestinian economy at the Casablanca Economic Summit.^[1] After 1994, through Builders, Zogby worked with a number of U.S. Agencies to promote and support Palestinian economic development including AID, OPIC, USTDA, and the Departments of State and Commerce.

Since 1992, Zogby has written Washington Watch, a weekly column on American politics for major Arab newspapers, which is published in 14 Arab and South Asian countries. He has authored several books, including What Ethnic Americans Really Think (The Zogby Culture Polls)^[8] and What Arabs Think: Values, Beliefs and Concerns.^[9] He also blogs at The Huffington Post^[6] and is a member of Politico's Arena.^[10] Zogby hosts a weekly interview and call-in discussion program, Viewpoint with James Zogby, about Middle East and world issues on Abu Dhabi Television which is broadcast in America on Link TV, DirecTV and Dish Network.^[11] The show has won an award at the Cairo Radio/Television Festival.

In 1984 and 1988, Zogby served as Deputy Campaign manager and Senior Advisor to the Jesse Jackson Presidential campaign. In 1995 he was appointed as co-convener of the National Democratic Ethnic Coordinating Committee (NDECC), an umbrella organization within the Democratic Party of leaders of European and Mediterranean descent, to which he was reelected in 1999 and 2001. Also in 2001, he was appointed to the Executive Committee of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), and in 2006 was also named Co-Chair of the DNC's Resolutions Committee.^[10] He served as Al Gore's Senior Advisor on Ethnic Outreach, a post he also held in the 2008 Obama Campaign. He was a delegate to the 2008 Democratic National Convention.

Zogby also serves on the Human Rights Watch Middle East Advisory Committee and on the national advisory boards of the American Civil Liberties Union and Democrats for Life of America, and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. He has testified before a number of Congressional Committees and Executive branch forums,^[1] including on the subject of Arab attitudes toward the United States.^[12] He has been a guest speaker in the Secretary's Open Forum at the U.S. Department of State. Zogby has also addressed the United Nations and other international forums.

Zogby has been the target of repeated anti-Arab threats, for which three men have been prosecuted. In July 2006, Zogby and other senior Arab American Institute employees were threatened by Patrick Syring during the 2006 Lebanon War. Syring was sentenced July 11, 2008, to one year in prison for civil rights violations and released in January 2009.^[13][14][15] In 1980, Zogby's office in Washington, D.C. was fire-bombed.^[16]

Awards and honors[link]

Zogby received a Distinguished Public Service Award from the U.S. Department of State "in recognition of outstanding contributions to national and international affairs" from the Secretary's Open Forum.^[6] In 1995, Le Moyne College awarded Zogby an honorary doctor of laws degree and in 1997, named him the college's outstanding alumnus. In 2007, Temple University College of Liberal Arts also singled out Zogby as an outstanding alumnus. In 2008 American University of Cairo awarded him an honorary doctorate. Zogby was also named an Honorary Patron of the University Philosophical Society, Trinity College, Dublin.

References[link]

External links[link]

• jzanalytics.com. JZ Analytics
• Washington Watch. Arab American Institute weekly policy column
• Viewpoint. Arab American Institute weekly television interview program
• "A Preview: Challenges in the Middle East" (Video), speech before the Foreign Press Center, U.S. Department of State, (February 4, 2009)
• "Obama and the Middle East" (Audio), Chatham House event (February 9, 2011)
• "Understanding America's Right Wing, Part Two". MediaMonitors.net. James Zogby (June 4, 2002)
• "It's Still the US Mideast Policy, Stupid". Jerusalemites.org. James Zogby (August 16, 2004)

John Zogby
Born	1948 (age 63–64) Utica, New York
Occupation	Senior Analyst with JZ Analytics
Website
http://www.jzanalytics.com

John Zogby (born 1948) is an American political pollster, founder of the "Zogby Poll" and the Zogby companies, is an internationally respected pollster, opinion leader and best-selling author. His polling is best known for both phone polling and interactive, Internet-based polling. Zogby is currently a Senior Analyst with JZ Analytics.^[1]

Biography[link]

Early years[link]

Zogby grew up in Utica, New York, the son of Lebanese Catholic immigrants. His brother, James Zogby, is the founder of the Arab American Institute, and is also an independent pollster and Senior Analyst with JZ Analytics.

Zogby received a Bachelor's degree in history from Le Moyne College in 1970 and a Master's degree in history from Syracuse University in 1973.^[2] He taught history and political science for 24 years. A trustee of Le Moyne College, Zogby received the Alumni Award in June, 2000. In 2005, he was awarded Honorary Doctorate Degrees from State University of New York and the Graduate School of Union University. In 2009, Zogby received an honorary degree from the College of St. Rose.^[3]

Career[link]

An interpreter of the political scene, Zogby had a brief stint as an aspiring politician himself in 1981, when he ran unsuccessfully for Mayor of Utica, New York. He describes himself as a Democrat, while his polling firm is "independent and nonpartisan."^[4]

Zogby International

Zogby founded the polling firm Zogby International in 1984. Since then, he has conducted polls and focus groups around the world, though he has gained the most publicity for his polls of United States Presidential elections.

He first gained attention in the 1992 presidential election when he released a survey showing the New York State Governor Mario Cuomo would lose in his home state to incumbent President George H. W. Bush. That poll is widely thought to have pushed Cuomo from the race. Later, he gained more national attention in the 1996 Presidential election when his final poll came within a tenth of a point of the actual result. Zogby also correctly polled the cliffhanger result of the 2000 presidential election won narrowly by George W. Bush, in contrast to most other pollsters who had expected Bush to win easily.

He has been known as an industry innovator, making it standard practice to weight his political polls using party identification, which was not a common practice when he began to do so. Today, it is widely accepted as a best practice for the industry. Zogby himself credits this as one key reason his political polling has been so accurate over the years.

Another key reason for the Zogby success stems from his decision to maintain an in-house call center using live operators in Upstate New York. But, with the dramatic changes in the telephone industry in recent years, Zogby in 1998 began developing an interactive online polling methodology using a massive database of respondents that closely represents the national population at large.^[5]

Zogby International has also had success with elections in countries outside the United States. He correctly called the 2001 Israeli election for Ariel Sharon, the 2000 Mexican election for Vicente Fox and again in Mexico with the victory of Felipe Calderón in 2006. Also, Zogby has made a sideline of polling Arab attitudes toward the United States, particularly in regard to Lebanon.

Zogby has penned a comprehensive review of the process of polling the volatile 2008 Democratic Party nomination race between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.^[6]

On January 18, 2010, on the Hannity Show, when asked by the host to make a prediction in the next day’s special election in Massachusetts, Zogby said that he thought Martha Coakley would win “not much, just barely, one or less points” over Scott Brown.^[7] He clarified within one hour of this show airing that his statement was "a hunch" and was not based on a specific poll since his company was not polling the election in Massachusetts.^[8]

Sale of Zogby International

A majority interest in Zogby International was sold to IBOPE Inteligência, a subsidiary of the IBOPE Group, a Brazilian multinational company specializing in media, market and opinion research. It was announced in March 2011 that the company would be known as IBOPE Zogby International and would be managed by Chief Executive Officer, Kjell de Orr, and a five-member Board Directors, including John Zogby, Márcia Cavallari, CEO of IBOPE Inteligência, Kjell de Orr, Marcelo Kac, Latin American Business and Operations Executive Director for IBOPE Inteligência, and His Highness Prince Turki bin Khalid al Saud.^[9]

As of early 2012 Zogby holds no interest in IBOPE and has not worked directly with IBOPE.us clients since late 2010.

JZ Analytics

In February 2012 John Zoby joined his son, Jonathan Zogby, and a group of former senior staff members from Zogby International at a new company called JZ Analytics. Zogby is a senior analyst with the company. http://www.mrweb.com/drno/news15067.htm

Other activities[link]

Zogby also hosted a weekly show called "Zogby's Real America," which debuted on XM Satellite Radio's POTUS 08 Channel 130 in September 2007.^[10] Daily radio vignettes were heard on POTUS 08, where Zogby's Real America co-host Fritz Wenzel also provided commentary and analysis on fresh Zogby polling data though the Presidential election in November 2008.^[11]

He also writes a weekly column for Forbes.com and is in the U.S. News & World Report's Washington Whispers with a weekly "Obamameter" report.^[12]

He writes a regular, standing political analysis column for Campaigns and Elections' Politics Magazine. Since May 2005, he has also been a contributing blogger at The Huffington Post.

Zogby previously hosted a weekly show called "Zogby's Real America," which debuted on XM Satellite Radio's POTUS 08 Channel 130 in September 2007.^[13] Daily radio vignettes were heard on POTUS 08, where Zogby's Real America co-host Fritz Wenzel also provided commentary and analysis on fresh Zogby polling data though the Presidential election in November 2008.^[14]

Zogby is also a Senior Advisor at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and serves as the first Senior Fellow of The Catholic University of America's Life Cycle Institute in Washington, D.C. He is also a member of the board of directors of the prestigious Advertising Research Foundation, based in New York City.

He also serves on the Advisory Council for Bio-Technology for the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and is a Commissioner on the Center for Strategic and International Studies Commission on Smart Power.^[15]

In 2006, he was honoured as a "Living Legend of Oneida County" (NY) for his community service work and his founding of a groundbreaking worldwide company.

He is the author of The Way We'll Be, published by Random House in August 2008; it is an optimistic portrait of the new American consumer based on his polls.

John is weighing in on President Barack Obama's job performance and popularity on the new "Obamameter" featured on the revamped Washington Whispers home page from U.S. News & World Report.^[16] He also writes a weekly column for Forbes.com^[17]

Personal life[link]

Zogby has three sons with his wife, Kathleen, a retired special education teacher. His interests include golf, basketball, and soccer coaching.

Bibliography[link]

• Zogby, John (1990). Arab America Today: A Demographic Profile of Arab Americans (First edition ed.). Washington, D.C.: Arab American Institute. OCLC 24357334. 
• Zogby, John (2003). Public opinion and private accounts: measuring risk and confidence in rethinking social security (First edition ed.). Washington, D.C.: Cato Institute. OCLC 52641051. 
• Zogby, John (2006). Iran versus America? (First edition ed.). Utica, NY: Zogby International. OCLC 71340360. 
• Zogby, John (2008). The Way We'll Be: The Zogby Report on the Transformation of the American Dream (First edition ed.). New York: Random House. ISBN 978-1-4000-6450-2. 

References[link]

External links[link]

• Zogby International
• Appearances on C-SPAN
• John Zogby on Charlie Rose
• John Zogby at the Internet Movie Database
• Works by or about John Zogby in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
• John Zogby at the Notable Names Database