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HARVARD GAZETTE ARCHIVES
Thomas Patterson To Join KSG
First Bradlee Professor of Government and the Press
Thomas E. Patterson, a leading political scientist specializing in American
politics and political communication, has been appointed to the Bradlee
Professorship of Government and the Press at the Kennedy School of Government,
Dean Joseph Nye announced this week.
Patterson will be the first person to hold the new Bradlee chair, established
by distinguished Washington Post Editor Benjamin C. Bradlee to support
teaching and research concerning "the role of the free press in a democracy."
"I can think of no one better qualified to explore the complex interactions
between those who govern, those who record and explain what government does,
and the broader citizenry," said Nye. "Professor Patterson will
make a major contribution to the work of the Kennedy School in this area."
Nye also expressed appreciation for Bradlee's support. "Ben Bradlee
has long understood the need for serious, dispassionate scholarship on the
intersection of media and politics," he said. "His bold leadership
of The Washington Post during a tumultuous period in American history
inspired a generation of journalists, and we are honored to establish the
Bradlee Professorship here at the Kennedy School."
"John Kennedy played a vital role in working out the proper relationship
between the press and the presidency," said Bradlee. "Tom Patterson
is just the right scholar to study how that role should evolve."
Patterson returns to the Kennedy School after spending a semester in 1991
at the Shorenstein Center as the Lombard Visiting Professor of Press and
Public Policy. He has been a member of the Center's Senior Advisory Board
since 1992. Patterson has written extensively on the role and impact of
the mass media on U.S. politics. He authored the book Out of Order
(1993) and The Mass Media Election (1980) and coauthored (with R.D.
McClure) The Unseeing Eye (1976) and Political Advertising
(1973). His articles have appeared in such journals as Political Communication
and Persuasion, Public Opinion, International Journal of Public Opinion
Research, Television Quarterly, Political Communication, The Wilson Quarterly,
and Journal of Communication. His work on political communication
has been supported by major grants from the National Science Foundation
and the Markle Foundation. His introductory text, The American Democracy,
is now in its third edition. His current research includes a foundation-sponsored
study of news systems in democratic societies, which centers on a six-country
survey of political journalists.
Patterson has served on the faculty of the Maxwell School at Syracuse University
since 1970. He earned a B.S. with highest honors from South Dakota State
University in 1964, and an M.A. (1969) and a Ph.D. (1971) in political science
from the University of Minnesota.
Copyright
1998 President and Fellows of Harvard College
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