Former
United States presidential candidate John B. Anderson, who
received 6 million votes as an independent candidate in
1980, has served as chair of the Center for Voting and
Democracy since 1996 after four years as chair of the
Center's Advisory Board.
He is an accomplished speaker and his recent
media appearances include the BBC, NPR and C-SPAN among
others. He is a frequent lecturer and expert commentator on
issues of electoral reform, United Nations reform, foreign
affairs, American politics, and independent candidacies. He
also writes regularly on the role of Congress in both
domestic and international affairs. He is president of the
World Federalist Association.
Mr. Anderson has taught political science as
a visiting professor at numerous universities, including
Bryn Mawr College, Brandeis University, Stanford University,
Oregon State University, the University of Illinois, the
Washington School of Law and Nova Southeastern University.
He taught constitutional law at Nova Southeastern University
in the fall of 2001.
Between 1961 and 1981, Mr. Anderson served
ten terms as U.S. Representative to Congress from the 16th
District of Illinois. He served on the House Rules Committee
and for a decade was Chairman of the House Republican
Conference. He served as States Attorney in Winnebago
County, Illinois for four years.
During World War II, Mr. Anderson was a
staff sergeant in the U.S. Field Artillery. In foreign
service between 1952 and 1955, he was Economic Reporting
Officer in the Eastern Affairs Division.
Mr. Anderson earned his B.A. and J.D. from
the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, received an
LL.M. degree from Harvard Law School in 1949, and has since
been awarded honorary doctorates of law from Wheaton College
and Trinity College.