James A. Thurber

James A. Thurber is University Distinguished Professor of Government and Director of the Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies at American University in Washington, D.C. He was the principal investigator of a seven-year grant from The Pew Charitable Trusts to the Campaign Management Institute to study campaign conduct.

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 and co-author of numerous books and more than seventy-five articles and chapters on Congress, congressional-presidential relations, congressional budgeting, congressional reform, interest groups and lobbying, and campaigns and elections.

Dr. Thurber earned a Bachelor of Science 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 worked on four reorganization efforts for committees in the U.S. House and U.S. Senate from 1976 to present. 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.