Norton Garfinkle (born February 26, 1931) is an

economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this field there are ...

, businessman and

public servant The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...

. He is a

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal a ...

graduate with honors from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manha ...

and did his graduate work at

and

Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the n ...

. He taught economics and economic history at Amherst College, where he was an editor the ''Journal of Economic History.''

Business career

Norton Garfinkle is chairman of Princeton Scientific Capital Management, a financial investment company. He is also chairman of Princeton SciTech, an investment company that specializes in building new

internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a ''internetworking, network of networks'' that consists ...

based

technology Technology is the application of knowledge to reach practical goals in a specifiable and reproducible way. The word ''technology'' may also mean the product of such an endeavor. The use of technology is widely prevalent in medicine, scie ...

companies. Garfinkle was the founder of Brand Rating Research Corporation, a

public opinion Public opinion is the collective opinion on a specific topic or voting intention relevant to a society. It is the people's views on matters affecting them. Etymology The term "public opinion" was derived from the French ', which was first use ...

research company that provided a syndicated service to many consumer product companies including

Procter & Gamble The Procter & Gamble Company (P&G) is an American multinational consumer goods corporation headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, founded in 1837 by William Procter and James Gamble. It specializes in a wide range of personal health/consumer he ...

, Bristol Myers and Colgate, major television networks, major national magazines and major newspapers. The company also created RADAR, the first national radio ratings service. The company was sold to

Silicon Valley Silicon Valley is a region in Northern California that serves as a global center for high technology and innovation. Located in the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area, it corresponds roughly to the geographical areas San Mateo Count ...

based Arcata National Corporation in 1970. Garfinkle served as chairman of Electronic Retailing Systems International which provided technology solutions to supermarket chains including the widely used self checkout supermarket systems. The company was sold to IBM in 2003. Garfinkle founded Advanced Retail Marketing Corporation, an in-store marketing company, which was sold to

News Corporation News Corporation (abbreviated News Corp.), also variously known as News Corporation Limited, was an American multinational mass media corporation controlled by media mogul Rupert Murdoch and headquartered at 1211 Avenue of the Americas in Ne ...

in 1996. Garfinkle was Chairman of Cambridge Parallel Processing, which provided the super-computers that managed the

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency was est ...

News Service. Garfinkle founded Oral Research Laboratories in 1985. Garfinkle served as Chairman and CEO of the company until 1988 when the company was sold to

Pfizer Pfizer Inc. ( ) is an American multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology corporation headquartered on 42nd Street in Manhattan, New York City. The company was established in 1849 in New York by two German entrepreneurs, Charles Pfize ...

Chairmanships

Garfinkle is Chairman of the Future of American Democracy Foundation, a nonprofit, nonpartisan foundation in partnership with

Yale University Press Yale University Press is the university press of Yale University. It was founded in 1908 by George Parmly Day, and became an official department of Yale University in 1961, but it remains financially and operationally autonomous. , Yale Univer ...

and the Yale Center for International and Area Studies, "dedicated to research and education aimed at renewing and sustaining the historic vision of American democracy". He is also a board member and chairman of the Finance Committee of the Public Agenda, a non-partisan, non-profit, public opinion research organization founded by Secretary of State

Cyrus Vance Cyrus Roberts Vance Sr. (March 27, 1917January 12, 2002) was an American lawyer and United States Secretary of State under President Jimmy Carter from 1977 to 1980. Prior to serving in that position, he was the United States Deputy Secretary of ...

and Social Scientist,

Daniel Yankelovich Daniel Yankelovich (December 29, 1924 – September 22, 2017) was a public opinion analyst and social scientist. Education After attending Boston Latin School, Yankelovich graduated from Harvard University in 1946 and 1950 before completing postgr ...

, America’s leading expert on public opinion. He has also served as chairman of the

George Washington University , mottoeng = "God is Our Trust" , established = , type = Private federally chartered research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.8 billion (2022) , presi ...

Institute for Communitarian Policy Studies,GWU Institute for Communitairan Policy Studies information page
/ref> chairman of the National Hospice Foundation, Chairman of the Lamaze Institute for Family Education, chairman of the New York Landmarks Conservancy and chairman of the Finance Committee of the Harlem School of Arts.

Broadcast appearances

On July 19, 2001, he appeared on the

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of ed ...

show, ''

The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer ''PBS NewsHour'' is an American evening television news program broadcast on over 350 PBS member stations. It airs seven nights a week, and is known for its in-depth coverage of issues and current events. Anchored by Judy Woodruff, the pro ...

'', to discuss his report on reforming the voting systems used in the 2000 Presidential Election. On October 6, 2006, he appeared on the PBS show The Open Mind to discuss his book, ''The American Dream vs. The Gospel of Wealth''. On February 3, 2007, he was a guest on the ''Bloomberg on the Economy'' Radio Report on

National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from othe ...

, in "Norton Garfinkle, Author, Discusses Rise of U.S. Middle Class" discussing his book ''The American Dream vs. The Gospel of Wealth''.

Selected works

* ''Lincoln and the coming of the Civil War (Problems in American Civilization Series)'', editor, DC Heath and Company, various editions 1959 - 1967 * ''Report on Election System Reform'', George Washington University, July 2001 * "Effect of Underpricing and Lock-Up Provisions in IPOs", with Burton G. Malkiel and Costin Bontas, ''The Journal of Portfolio Management'', Spring 2002. * ''Uniting America: Restoring the Vital Center to American Democracy (The Future of American Democracy Series)'', editor with

, 2006 * ''The American Dream vs. The Gospel of Wealth: The Fight for a Productive Middle-Class Economy (The Future of American Democracy Series)'', Yale University Press, 2006

Notes

External links

Transcript of July 19, 2001 ''the NewsHour With Jim Lehrer''

The Future of American Democracy Series at Yale University Press
{{DEFAULTSORT:Garfinkle, Norton 1931 births Living people Columbia University alumni Princeton University alumni Amherst College faculty