{{short description|American public opinion pollster, author, and public speaker}} {{For| his brother and president of the Arab American Institute|James Zogby}} {{Infobox person | name = John Zogby | image = John Zogby.jpg | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1948|9|3}} | birth_place = Utica, New York, U.S. | death_date = | death_place = | education = Le Moyne College (BA)<br>Syracuse University (MA) | political_party = Democratic | relatives = James Zogby (brother) | website = {{URL|johnzogbystrategies.com}} }} '''John J. Zogby''' (born September 3, 1948) is an American public opinion pollster, author, and public speaker. He is founder of the Zogby poll, and the Zogby International poll. Besides his profile in politics, he has also become a figure in popular culture, and he is the subject of a 2024 documentary, "People, Not Numbers," based on his working principle, "I poll people, not numbers."<ref>{{Cite web |date=19 October 2024 |title=Oneida County History Center to Premiere Documentary About John Zogby |url=https://oneidacountyhistory.org/zogby |access-date= |website=Oneida County History Center}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-10-11 |title=Oneida County History Center to premiere documentary about John Zogby |url=https://www.romesentinel.com/news/john-zogby/article_908b531c-87d8-11ef-bfc5-87fef4f2ee3f.html |access-date=2024-12-16 |website=Rome Sentinel |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Zogby |first=John |date=22 January 2023 |title=On the Anniversary of Roe v. Wade - Remember That Polls Are About People, Not Just Numbers |url=https://zogbyanalytics.com/news/407-on-the-anniversary-of-roe-v-wade-remember-that-polls-are-about-people-not-just-numbers |access-date= |website=Zogby Analytics}}</ref>
== Early years and education == John Zogby was born on September 3, 1948, and grew up in Utica, New York, where he still lives.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Prelutsky |first=Burt |title=Portraits of Success |date=2010 |publisher=WND Books |isbn=978-1-935071-20-4 |edition= |location=Washington, D.C. |pages=337–344}}</ref> He is the son of Lebanese Catholic immigrants. His father, Joseph Rachid Zogby, was an immigrant from Lebanon who ran a successful Utica grocery store with his brothers.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Zogby |first=John |date=11 July 2012 |title=Immigration: When My Heart and My Chart Collide |url=https://www.forbes.com/2010/05/20/immigration-attitudes-poll-opinions-columnists-john-zogby.html |access-date= |website=Forbes |language=}}</ref> Immigration has always been an important part of Zogby's personal approach to polling, and he noted his father's immigration status in an op-ed, "I am the son of an illegal immigrant. My father came here illegally from Lebanon, and my father is my heart."<ref name=":2" /> He dedicated ''Beyond the Horse Race'' to his mother, Salemi (Celia Ann) Zogby, who was born in Pennsylvania to Lebanese immigrant parents, and whom he remembered as "An educator of two generations of Uticans, [who] shaped the lives of thousands of young people who passed through her classrooms."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Zogby |first=John |date=23 January 2009 |title=My Mother: A Lebanese American Woman's Life |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/my-mother-a-lebanese-amer_b_153204 |access-date= |website=HuffPost |language=}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Zogby |first=John |url=https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781538197158/Beyond-the-Horse-Race-How-to-Read-Polls-and-Why-We-Should |title=Beyond the Horse Race: How to Read Polls and Why We Should |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |year=2024 |isbn=978-1-5381-9714-1 |edition=1 |location=Lanham, Maryland |language=}}</ref> John Zogby graduated from Notre Dame Junior Senior High School, and received a bachelor's degree in history from Le Moyne College in 1970 and a master's degree in history from Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University in 1974.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Pollster Joins Maxwell School Panel to Explore Super Tuesday and Beyond |url=https://www.maxwell.syr.edu/news/article/pollster-joins-maxwell-school-panel-to-explore-super-tuesday-and-beyond |access-date=2024-12-13 |website=Maxwell School |language=en}}</ref> He completed all coursework and exams for a doctorate in history at Syracuse (ABD) in 1974.<ref name=":1" /><ref>Confirmed by the graduate school of Syracuse University, January 17, 2025.</ref> In addition to teaching at SUNY Polytechnic, he taught history and political science at Mohawk Valley Community College, where he was commencement speaker in 2011, and later chaired its capital campaign.<ref>{{cite news |date=2010-12-15 |title=Zogby chairs MVCC's 'Challenge and Opportunity' campaign {{!}} MVCC {{!}} Mohawk Valley Community College |url=https://www.mvcc.edu/news-releases/news-story/zogby-chairs-mvccs-challenge-and-opportunity-campaign/ |access-date=14 August 2017 |work=www.mvcc.edu |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=2010-11-08 |title=Zogby provides leadership for 'Challenge and Opportunity' |url=https://www.mvcc.edu/communitas-1/2010/november-8-2010 |access-date=14 August 2017}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Dorsagno |first=Cheyenne |date=31 July 2016 |title=Zogby delves into our complex personalities - Utica native's project offers new perspective on Americans |url=https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_id=info%3Asid/infoweb.newsbank.com&svc_dat=WORLDNEWS&req_dat=0D0CB4F83B341AB5&rft_val_format=info%3Aofi/fmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Actx&rft_dat=document_id%3Anews%252F15E81497DC8FBCB0 |work=Observer-Dispatch (Utica, NY) |pages=F1}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |date=17 May 2011 |title=College Senate Meeting Minutes |url=https://www.mvcc.edu/governance/college-senate/pdfs/meeting-minutes/2011-2012/minutes-May-17-2011.pdf |journal=Mohawk Valley Community College |pages=2}}</ref> His brother, James Zogby, is the founder of the Arab American Institute, where John has served on the board.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-03-31 |title=James Zogby, President |url=https://www.aaiusa.org/team/james-zogby |access-date= |website=Arab American Institute |language=}}</ref> In 1981, before his polling career began, John Zogby ran for mayor of Utica, New York.<ref>{{cite news |date=2014-04-08 |title=Zogby family business returns to Broad Street |url=http://www.uticaod.com/x848265816/Zogby-family-business-returns-to-Broad-Street |access-date=13 August 2017 |work=Uticaod |language=en}}</ref>
== Polling career == Zogby currently serves as a senior partner at John Zogby Strategies, a marketing and political consulting firm created in 2016 with two of his sons, Benjamin and Jeremy.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Forbes |first=Staff |date=18 June 2020 |title=Forbes' Under 30 Voter Survey With Zogby Strategies Reveals Young Voters' Attitudes Toward Police And Racism |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbespr/2020/06/18/forbes-under-30-voter-survey-with-zogby-strategies-reveals-young-voters-attitudes-toward-police-and-racism/ |access-date= |website=Forbes |language=en}}</ref> He launched his first polling company, John Zogby Associates, in 1984, conducting mainly local polls for candidates, parties, and the media in northeastern US communities through the 1980s.<ref>{{cite news|last1=MOONEY|first1=Chris|title=John Zogby's Creative Polls|url=http://prospect.org/article/john-zogbys-creative-polls|access-date=13 August 2017|work=The American Prospect|date=16 January 2003|language=en}}</ref> He tells the story of being part of a broad layoff at an Arab-American anti-discrimination group, and launching his polling firm immediately thereafter because so many of the Arab Americans he had worked with needed him and were ready to hire him.<ref name=":1" /> In December 1991, polling for several radio and television stations in Upstate New York, he published a poll in New York State showing that then-president George H. W. Bush was leading the state's governor Mario Cuomo by 6 points in that state. Governor Cuomo decided to not enter the 1992 presidential race the next day.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Smith|first1=Curt|title=George H. W. Bush : Character at the Core|date=November 2014|publisher=Potomac Books|isbn=978-1612346854|page=180 |url=http://www.booksamillion.com/p/George-H-Bush/Curt-Smith/9781612346854|access-date=13 August 2017|language=en}}</ref> By 1994, Zogby was polling the New York State gubernatorial race for the ''New York Post'' and WNYW-Fox 5. Zogby correctly called the winner, George Pataki, the only pollster to do so.<ref>{{cite news|title=LULAC: The Battle for the Latino Vote|url=https://lulac.org/news/headlines/gotv4_zogby/|publisher=LULAC|date=Nov 29, 2006|language=en}}</ref> Zogby's company was hired by Reuters news agency to poll the 1996 presidential race.<ref name="no2">{{cite magazine |last1=MacFarquhar |first1=Larissa |date=18 October 2014 |title=The Pollster |url=http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2004/10/18/the-pollster |access-date=13 August 2017 |magazine=The New Yorker}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Who Will Win? Pollster John Zogby to Discuss 2008 Election|url=http://www.rochester.edu/news/show.php?id=3151|website=www.rochester.edu|date=April 16, 2008}}</ref> "All hail Zogby, the maverick predictor," wrote Richard Morin, polling director at ''The Washington Post'', when John Zogby was the only pollster who called the 1996 presidential election with near precision.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Richard|first1=Morin|title=The Washington Post|date=10 November 1996}}</ref> Zogby achieved the same level of accuracy with his polling in the following two presidential elections.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Silver|first1=Nate|title=Which Polls Fared Best (and Worst) in the 2012 Presidential Race|url=https://fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/11/10/which-polls-fared-best-and-worst-in-the-2012-presidential-race/|work=FiveThirtyEight|date=2012-11-10|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Interview: Zogby Talks about getting 2016 right – John Zogby Strategies|url=http://johnzogbystrategies.com/interview-zogby-talks-about-getting-2016-right/|work=johnzogbystrategies.com|date=April 3, 2017}}</ref>
== Books and publications == He is the author of four books: ''Beyond the Horse Race: How to Read Polls and Why We Should'' (Rowman & Littlefield 2024), as well as ''The Way We'll Be: The Zogby Report on the Transformation of the American Dream'' (Random House, 2008), and the ''First Globals: Understanding, Managing, and Unleashing Our Millennial Generation'' (with Joan Snyder Kuhl).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Zogby |first=John |title=Beyond the Horse Race: How to Read Polls and Why We Should |date=2024 |publisher=Bloomsbury/Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-1-5381-9714-1 |location=Lanham, Maryland}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Zogby |first=John |last2=Snyder Kuhl |first2=Joan |date=13 June 2013 |title=First Globals Understanding, Managing, & Unleashing the Potential of Our Millennial Generation |url=https://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Unleashing-Potential-Millennial-Generation-ebook/dp/B00DE3N19W |url-status= |archive-url= |archive-date= |access-date= |website=}}</ref> ''We Are Many, We Are One: Neo-Tribes and Tribal Analytics in 21st Century America'', emphasized a new paradigm for moving beyond demographics by allowing people who participated in the survey research to define themselves based on their attributes and values.<ref>{{cite web|title=Books – John Zogby Strategies|url=http://johnzogbystrategies.com/books/|website=johnzogbystrategies.com|access-date=14 August 2017}}</ref> The result is what Zogby describes as a bottom-up approach to segmentation analysis. He wrote the foreword to John Kenneth White's book ''The Values Divide: American Politics and Culture in Transition''.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Zogby |first=John |title=The Values Divide: American Politics and Culture in Transition |date=2002 |publisher=Chatham House/Seven Bridges |isbn=978-1-889119-75-5 |location=New York and London |chapter=Foreword}}</ref> Additionally, Zogby writes periodic columns (previously weekly) on Forbes.com, and he contributes a weekly presidential report card for ''The Washington Examiner'''s "Washington Secrets", by Paul Bedard. He contributes regularly to ''The Guardian,'' and is also a founding contributor to The Huffington Post.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Muck Rack |date=11 November 2024 |title=John Zogby |url=https://muckrack.com/john-zogby |access-date= |website=Muck Rack |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite report |url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep45501.9 |title=About the Commissioners |last=(CSIS) |first=Center for Strategic and International Studies |date=2007 |publisher=Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) |pages=75}}</ref>
== Awards and advisory boards == A former trustee of Le Moyne College (2000–2009), Zogby received the Distinguished Alumni Award in June 2000.<ref>{{Cite web |date=30 September 2024 |title=Happening on The Heights: September 2024: John Zogby '70 returned to The Heights to give the Carroll College of Arts and Sciences' first Distinguished Alumni Lecture. |url=https://www.lemoyne.edu/news/happening-on-the-heights-september-2024/ |access-date= |website=Le Moyne College |language=}}</ref> He was also the director of the Keenan Center for Entrepreneurship from 2016 to 2018.<ref name="no3">{{cite news |date=1 March 2016 |title=John Zogby '70 Named Director of Keenan Center for Entrepreneurship in the Madden School of Business at Le Moyne |url=http://www.lemoyne.edu/News/News-Article/ArticleId/69 |access-date=13 August 2017 |work=www.lemoyne.edu}}</ref> He has three honorary doctorates, from the State University of New York and the graduate school of Union University in 2005, and from the College of St. Rose in 2009, along with Jimmy Fallon.<ref>{{cite web |last=Saratogian |date=22 July 2021 |title=Jimmy Fallon, John Zogby to be Honored by St. Rose |url=https://www.saratogian.com/2009/04/17/jimmy-fallon-john-zogby-to-be-honored-by-st-rose/ |access-date= |website=The Saratogian}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=13 July 2016 |title=SUNY Honorary Degrees Awarded or Pending Award |url=https://www.buffalo.edu/content/dam/www/provost/files/FacultyAffairs/HD_Recipients_As_of_July13_2016.pdf |access-date= |page=15}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Marvin |first=Benjamin |date=9 May 2009 |title=John Zogby Predicted It: Jimmy Fallon Graduated From College Today |url=http://assets.strose.edu/pr/NewsArchive/default.asp?news_id=14062 |archive-url= |work=The College of Saint Rose}}</ref> In 2008 he was awarded the Chancellor's distinguished fellows award from the University of California Irvine.<ref>{{cite web|title=UC Irvine – Faculty Profile System|url=http://www.faculty.uci.edu/profile.cfm?faculty_id=5142|website=www.faculty.uci.edu|access-date=14 August 2017|language=en}}</ref> He has also received awards from the American Task Force for Lebanon.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Hanley|first1=Delinda C.|title="American Task Force for Lebanon Holds Gala" by Hanley, Delinda C. – Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, Vol. 24, Issue 5, July 2005 |url=https://www.questia.com/magazine/1P3-853790921/american-task-force-for-lebanon-holds-gala|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170814222140/https://www.questia.com/magazine/1P3-853790921/american-task-force-for-lebanon-holds-gala|url-status=dead|archive-date=August 14, 2017|access-date=|work=|language=en}}</ref> He has been named a New York State "Living Legend" by the Oneida County Historical Association, and has his name on the Mohawk Valley Welcome Center's Walk of Fame.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Ebbeling |first=Vanessa |date=20 August 2006 |title=Historical Society to Honor Three Living Legends |url=https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_id=info%3Asid/infoweb.newsbank.com&svc_dat=WORLDNEWS&req_dat=0D0CB4F83B341AB5&rft_val_format=info%3Aofi/fmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Actx&rft_dat=document_id%3Anews%252F113ABAE993C96E00 |archive-url= |work=Observer-Dispatch (Utica, NY) |pages=1B}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Oneida County History Center {{!}} Historical Society {{!}} Utica NY |url=https://oneidacountyhistory.org/zogby |access-date=2024-12-13 |website=oneidacountyhistory.org}}</ref>
Zogby was a former advisor at the Belfer Center of the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.<ref>{{cite web |title=Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs |url=http://www.belfercenter.org/person/john-zogby/publication |access-date=14 August 2017 |website=www.belfercenter.org |language=en}}</ref> He was also a fellow of the Catholic University of America Institute for Policy Research and Catholic Studies.<ref>{{cite web |title=IPR Senior Fellow: John Zogby |url=http://ipr.cua.edu/faculty/zogby.cfm |access-date=14 August 2017 |website=ipr.cua.edu}}</ref> He served on the advisory council for biotechnology for the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), as a Commissioner on the CSIS Commission on Smart Power, for three years on its board of trustees, with board chair David Abshire, the CSIS founding chairman.<ref>{{cite web |title=Center for Strategic and International Studies |url=https://www.csis.org/search?search_api_views_fulltext=John%20Zogby |access-date=14 August 2017 |website=www.csis.org |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Armitage |first1=Richard L. |title=CSIS Commission on Smart Power : a smarter, more secure America |last2=Nye |first2=Joseph |date=2007 |publisher=CSIS Press |isbn=978-0-89206-510-3 |location=Washington, D.C.}}</ref> He previously served on the congressionally created Advisory Group on Public Diplomacy for the Arab and Muslim World.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Glassman |first1=James |date=2003-10-03 |title=Public Diplomacy in the Arab and Muslim World |url=https://www.aei.org/publication/public-diplomacy-in-the-arab-and-muslim-world/ |access-date=14 August 2017 |work=AEI}}</ref> Zogby is the former chairman of the educational organization Sudan Sunrise.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Zogby |first1=John |date=11 July 2012 |title=Sudanese Activist Charged With Terrorism |url=https://kristof.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/07/11/sudanese-activist-charged-with-terrorism/?smid=tw-share |access-date=14 August 2017 |work=On the Ground}}</ref> He served on the boards of the Arab American Institute, and Upstate Venture Connect.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Zogby |first1=James |date=2017-07-01 |title=Washington Watch: What an Italian American Leader Did for Arab Americans and for Me – Arab American Institute |url=http://www.aaiusa.org/what_an_italian_american_leader_did_for_arab_americans_and_for_me |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170814175329/http://www.aaiusa.org/what_an_italian_american_leader_did_for_arab_americans_and_for_me |archive-date=2017-08-14 |access-date=14 August 2017 |work=www.aaiusa.org}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=John Zogby {{!}} Upstate Venture Connect |url=https://uvc.org/john-zogby/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170814174357/https://uvc.org/john-zogby/ |archive-date=14 August 2017 |access-date=14 August 2017 |website=Upstate Venture Connect}}</ref>
== In popular culture == John Zogby's polls have been referenced in popular culture, including NBC's ''The West Wing'', CW's ''Gossip Girl'', the Netflix series ''House of Cards'', Richard North Patterson's novel ''The Race'', the Simpsons, game shows such as the UK's Cash Cab, and the 25th Anniversary edition of Trivial Pursuit. Zogby Polls have been cited on ''The Tonight Show'' and parodied on ''The Late Show'' and NPR's ''All Things Considered''. In 2004 and 2008, he was a guest on ''The Daily Show with Jon Stewart,'' an experience that he considered one of the highlights of his professional life.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2012 |title=John Zogby |url=https://itif.org/person/john-zogby/ |access-date= |website=Information Technology and Innovation Foundation}}</ref> Political strategist Mary Matalin called him "The Prince of Polling".<ref>{{Cite web |date=2013–2014 |title=John Zogby, Founder of the Zogby Poll: First Globals: Understanding, Managing and Unleashing our Millennial Generation |url=https://tulsacfr.org/past-programs/2013-2014/ |access-date= |website=Tulsa Committee on Foreign Relations |language=}}</ref>
== Personal life == Although political polling could easily have drawn him to New York City or Washington, DC, he has always remained in his home town of Utica, which he sees as one key to his success in understanding American communities more broadly.<ref name=":3">{{Cite news |last=MacFarquhar |first=Larissa |date=2004-10-10 |title=The Pollster |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2004/10/18/the-pollster |access-date= |work=The New Yorker |language= |issn=}}</ref> His wife Kathleen is a retired special education teacher and children's book author, ''Nonnie's Lessons of Love, Hope, and Nature'' (2016).<ref>{{Cite web |last=Moore |first=Marissa |date=17 April 2017 |title=Kathleen Zogby's Latest Book Based on her Youth |url=https://www.uticaod.com/story/news/2017/04/17/kathleen-zogby-s-latest-book/21361821007/ |access-date= |website=Utica Observer Dispatch |language=}}</ref>
== Bibliography == * {{cite book |last=Zogby |first=John |url=https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781538197158/Beyond-the-Horse-Race-How-to-Read-Polls-and-Why-We-Should |title=Beyond the Horse Race: How to Read Polls and Why We Should |edition= |location=Lanham, MD |publisher=Bloomsbury/Rowman & Littlefield |year=2024 |isbn=978-1-5381-9714-1}} * {{cite book |last=Zogby |first=John |title=We Are Many, We Are One: Neo-Tribes and Tribal Analytics In 21st Century America |edition=First |location=New York |publisher=John Zogby |year=2016 |isbn=978-0-9913382-1-4}} * {{cite book |last1=Zogby |first1=John |last2=Snyder-Kuhl |first2=Joan |title=First Globals: Understanding, Managing, and Unleashing the Potential of Our Millennial Generation |edition= |location=New York |publisher=New York |year=2013 |isbn=978-0-9913382-0-7}} * {{cite book | last=Zogby | first=John | title=The Way We'll Be: The Zogby Report on the Transformation of the American Dream | url=https://archive.org/details/waywellbezogbyre00zogb | url-access=registration | edition=First | location=New York | publisher=Random House | year=2008 | isbn=978-1-4000-6450-2 }} * {{cite book | last=Zogby | first=John | title=Iran versus America?| edition=First | location=Utica, NY | publisher=Zogby International | year=2006 | oclc=71340360}} * {{cite book | last=Zogby | first=John | title=Public opinion and private accounts: measuring risk and confidence in rethinking social security | edition=First | location=Washington, D.C.| publisher=Cato Institute | year=2003 | oclc=52641051}} * {{cite book | last=Zogby | first=John | title=Arab America Today: A Demographic Profile of Arab Americans | edition=First | location=Washington, D.C. | publisher=Arab American Institute | year=1990 | oclc=24357334}}
==References== {{Reflist|30em}}
==External links== * [http://johnzogbystrategies.com/ John Zogby Strategies] * {{C-SPAN}} * {{Charlie Rose view|1206}} * {{IMDb name|1821475}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zogby, John}} Category:1948 births Category:American people of Lebanese descent Category:Harvard Kennedy School people Category:Journalists from Upstate New York Category:Le Moyne College alumni Category:Living people Category:Syracuse University alumni Category:Writers from Utica, New York Category:Catholic University of America people Category:Pollsters