Glenn Poshard
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Glenn Poshard
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| In office January 3, 1989 – January 3, 1999 |
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| Preceded by | Kenneth J. Gray |
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| Succeeded by | David D. Phelps |
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| Born | October 30, 1945 Herald, Illinois |
| Political party | Democratic |
Glenn Poshard (born October 30, 1945 in Herald, Illinois) is a former Illinois State Senator, U.S. Congressman, Gubernatorial Candidate, and is currently President of the Southern Illinois University system.
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[edit] Early career
Glenn Poshard is a three-degree graduate of Southern Illinois University. He received a bachelor's degree in secondary education in 1970, a master's degree in educational administration in 1974 and a Ph.D. in administration of higher education in 1984. After graduating from college, he taught high school, coached high school sports, and served as director of the Southern Illinois Educational Service Center in Benton, Illinois from 1975 to 1982.
He served in the Illinois State Senate from 1984 to 1988.
[edit] Congressional service
Poshard ran for U.S. Representative from Illinois' 22nd Congressional District and was elected in 1988, where he served until 1992 when he was forced to run in the 19th district because of redistricting. Poshard, a Democrat, represented the 19th district in the United States House of Representatives from 1993 to 1998. As Congressman, he was considered to be a social conservative and fiscal populist; he was opposed to abortion, gay marriage, and the death penalty largely on religious grounds, and opposed free trade agreements and encouraged fiscal responsibility.[citation needed]
[edit] Gubernatorial campaign
In 1998 Glenn Poshard ran for governor against Republican Secretary of State George Ryan. He was considered by many to be to the right of his centrist opponent — specifically on issues like abortion, which gained him the support of many social conservatives who would normally vote Republican but also cost him some support from Chicago liberals.
Poshard strongly supported campaign finance reform. In his campaign, Poshard severely curtailed contributions to his campaign, refusing to accept any corporate or special interest group donations and limiting private donations to a small amount per individual. Because of his stance on campaign finances, Poshard faced a significant financial disadvantage in the campaign against Ryan and was outspent by a roughly 4 to 1 margin.
Glenn Poshard was first to alert the public about George Ryan's connection to the "licenses for bribes" scandal and other corruption. Some individuals, even prominent Democrats like former Senator Paul Simon, criticized Poshard for his attacks on Ryan's corruption. Simon and others were proven wrong several years later when Ryan was indicted in late 2003 on 22 counts of racketeering conspiracy, mail and tax fraud, and false statements charges alleging public corruption during his terms as Illinois Secretary of State and as Governor. Ryan was subsequently convicted and was sentenced to serve six and a half years in prison.
Poshard lost the Governor's race to Ryan by a 47%-51% margin. In his concession speech, Poshard declared that "no purpose is served by anger or resentment. No good is served by dropping out of the system in the future. The time for disappointment is only for this evening. Tomorrow we go back to work."
[edit] Continued public service
After he left Congress, Poshard and his wife Jo founded the Poshard Foundation for Abused Children, which raises more than $100,000 annually to fund care for abused children and other victims of domestic abuse throughout southern Illinois. Among its many activities, the Poshard Foundation led efforts to construct a new $600,000 women's shelter in Cairo, Illinois that opened in December 2003.
Poshard also served for four years as the Vice Chancellor for Administration at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, before Governor Rod Blagojevich appointed him to the Southern Illinois University Board of Trustees in January 2004. He was later elected Chairman of the Board of Trustees. He resigned his position on the Board of Trustees in 2005 when he announced his candidacy for the presidency of the Southern Illinois University system.
[edit] President of Southern Illinois University
The Southern Illinois University Board of Trustees announced that they had selected Glenn Poshard to serve as President of the system on Friday, November 18, 2005. He took office on January 1, 2006. For the board to appoint its own chair to the high-paying position of university president would lead to latter charges of cronyism, especially when members of the Board of Trustees announced their support of Poshard before examining charges of plagiarism against him and then refused to initiate a review of those charges by scholars outside the university and not reporting to Poshard..
[edit] Plagiarism Controversy
In August 2007, Southern Illinois University-Carbondale’s student newspaper, the Daily Egyptian, published evidence that Poshard had plagiarized passages in his doctoral dissertation, completed in the University’s Department of Higher Education in 1984.[1] This was the most dramatic in a series of plagiarism cases at SIU.
[edit] Electoral history
- 1998 election for Governor
- George Ryan (R), 51%
- Glenn Poshard (D), 47%
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Glenn Poshard at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
- Biography from Southern Illinois University
| United States House of Representatives | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Kenneth J. Gray |
U.S. Representatives of Illinois' 22nd Congressional District 1989–1993 |
Succeeded by no longer district |
| Preceded by Terry L. Bruce |
U.S. Representatives of Illinois' 19th Congressional District 1993–1999 |
Succeeded by David D. Phelps |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by Neil Hartigan |
Democratic Nominee for Governor of Illinois 1998 |
Succeeded by Rod Blagojevich |
