Andrew Kohut (September 2, 1942 – September 8, 2015) was an American

pollster An opinion poll, often simply referred to as a survey or a poll, is a survey (human research), human research survey of public opinion from a particular sampling (statistics), sample. Opinion polls are usually designed to represent the opinions ...

and nonpartisan news commentator about public affairs topics. He was the founding director of the

Pew Research Center The Pew Research Center (also simply known as Pew) is a nonpartisan American think tank based in Washington, D.C. It provides information on social issues, public opinion, and demographic trends shaping the United States and the world. It ...

Life and career

He was born in

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, most populous City (New Jersey), city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, the county seat of Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, and a principal city of the New York metropolitan area. ...

and was raised in

Rochelle Park, New Jersey Rochelle Park is a township in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 5,814, an increase of 284 (+5.1%) from the 2010 census count of 5,530, which in turn reflected a ...

. His parents were Peter, a glassblower, and Lena, who worked in manufacturing jobs. He received a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

degree from

Seton Hall University Seton Hall University (SHU) is a Private university, private Catholic Church, Catholic research university in South Orange, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1856 by then-Bishop James Roosevelt Bayley and named after his aunt, Saint Elizab ...

in 1964 and did graduate study in sociology at

Rutgers University Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's C ...

from 1964-66. Kohut was the founding director of the

and served as director of the

's Global Attitudes Project.Andrew Kohut, Director
people-press.org; accessed September 12, 2015. Kohut served as the center's president from 2004 to 2012 and directed the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press from 1993 to 2012. Kohut was a regular guest on

National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

, television news programs such as

PBS NewsHour ''PBS News Hour'', previously stylized as ''PBS NewsHour'', is the news division of PBS and an American daily evening news broadcasting#television, television news program broadcast on over 350 PBS Network affiliate#Member stations, member stat ...

, and the editorial pages of major newspapers like ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', where he presented Pew's poll results and analysis. From 1979-1989, Kohut was president of the

Gallup Organization Gallup, Inc. is an American multinational analytics and advisory company based in Washington, D.C. Founded by George Gallup in 1935, the company became known for its public opinion polls conducted worldwide. Gallup provides analytics and man ...

, and in 1989 he founded Princeton Survey Research Associates, an attitude and opinion research firm specializing in media, politics and public policy. He was a past president of the

American Association for Public Opinion Research The American Association for Public Opinion Research (AAPOR) is a professional organization of more than 2,000 public opinion and survey research professionals in the United States and from around the world, with members from academia, media, gover ...

and the National Council on Public Polls. His essays appeared in the op-ed section of ''The New York Times'' and he was a regular columnist for the

Columbia Journalism Review The ''Columbia Journalism Review'' (''CJR'') is a biannual magazine for professional journalists that has been published by the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism since 1961. Its original purpose was "to assess the performance ...

and AOL News. Kohut was the co-author of four books, most recently '' America Against the World'' (Times Books). In 2000, he won the New York AAPOR Chapter Award for Outstanding Contribution to Opinion Research, and in 2005 he was awarded the American Association of Public Opinion Research’s Award for Exceptionally Distinguished Achievement, that organization’s highest honor. In 2014, Kohut received the Warren J. Mitofsky Award for Excellence in Public Opinion Research from the board of directors of the

Roper Center for Public Opinion Research The Roper Center for Public Opinion Research at Cornell University is the world's oldest archive of social science data and the largest specializing in data from public opinion surveys. Its collection includes over 27,000 datasets and more than 85 ...

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

. Kohut died of chronic lymphocytic leukemia on September 8, 2015, six days after his 73rd birthday.AP via ABC News, Pollster Andrew Kohut dies age 73
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References

External links

About the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press

About the Pew Global Attitudes Project

by David T. Cook, ''

The Christian Science Monitor ''The Christian Science Monitor'' (''CSM''), commonly known as ''The Monitor'', is a nonprofit news organization that publishes daily articles both in Electronic publishing, electronic format and a weekly print edition. It was founded in 1908 ...

'', June 23, 2006. The former Secretary of State, former Senator, and Kohut discuss the divide between Islam and the West.
How Important Is the Iraq War for American Voters?

, ''Talk of the Nation'', August 8, 2006 * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kohut, Andrew 1942 births 2015 deaths American political scientists Seton Hall University alumni Rutgers University alumni People from Newark, New Jersey People from Rochelle Park, New Jersey Pollsters Deaths from leukemia in Maryland